[Darris McNeely] The Bible talks a great deal about being a watchman. And we have used that prophecy in those prophetic statements a lot on Beyond Today and on BT Dailies to explain exactly what the role of a prophet was and how we are to watch today the events in our world, to understand our times, to in a sense look at the sky.

In Luke 12:54, Jesus talked to the audience in His day and to the crowd, and He said, "When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say it's going to rain." So you know, we could kind of have all kinds of storm clouds moving across the sky and you could look at it and determine something is going to happen - it's going to rain. And He said, "When the south wind blows you say it's going to be hot". So we can have winds coming in, blowing in, threatening to stir up problems in our yard, trees falling. He said it's going to be hot. He says, "Hypocrites, you know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time?" So Jesus was talking to the crowd and saying, "Look, look at the sky, look around, understand the times in which you live"(Luke 12:54-56). Now again this is a theme that we continually come back to on Beyond Today and in our dailies to watch, to understand exactly the times.

We talk about the crisis in Europe. We talk about the Middle East. We talk about upset weather conditions. We talk about personal economic crises and the impact that the global economic crisis has had upon society. And in relation to that I hope all of us are watching that and making certain actions and taking certain actions in our life. I was reading an article today in the Wall Street Journal that was talking about the hard economic times and the uncertainties in certain communities and how it has hit various places within the United States. And it was bringing out the fact that Americans since 2008 when this crisis began have really paid down a large amount of personal debt as a result of what has happened to the markets, to the world economy, and the impact upon individual paychecks. People because of uncertainty in a sense, they have been watching. They have seen certain storm clouds arising and many have taken action to pay down debt.

What about you? What have you done? What actions have you taken as you have watched and interpreted the times and seen storm clouds coming, winds blowing, and knowing that it's going to be hot? Has it moved you to action in your own life to take some tangible steps to improve your lot or to position you for the storms that might dump a lot of further rains and floods and heat and the subsequent problems that can come as a result of that?

What have you done? Have you taken the steps to prepare yourself for that?

That's really what Christ was talking about both spiritually and in some very tangible, practical details of our own life in the day to day management of our own lives. If you've done that, you're to be commended because you've been following what Jesus said here and understood the need to watch and to take certain actions and decisions. Jesus went on in chapter 13 of Luke to also bring out the point that when you see certain things happen, repent, change (Luke 13:1-5). And whenever Jesus said something like that, He was putting it into the spiritual context of repenting and watching and preparing yourself for the Kingdom of God and the knowledge and submission to the rule and the law of God's Kingdom in our life today.

And so, I leave you with that thought here on this particular daily to watch, to discern the times, to see the clouds and the winds blowing, but then take your eyes off the skies. Look down the road ahead of you. Make some decisions. Get your life in order. Repent. Change your habits, your life. And create some tangible plans in your own life to prepare you for whatever might come ahead and to get through the times and most of all, keeping your life, your eyes, fixed firmly upon God and upon His coming Kingdom because that's what Jesus was really saying to His audience at that time.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.