[Steve Myers] In Matthew 24:42, Jesus Christ said, "Watch, therefore." Then He says, "You do not know what hour your Lord is coming." A couple of verses later in Matthew 25 He says the same words over again. So what did He mean by "watch?" What exactly should we be watching?

Well, it's interesting, the context in which He said this. In Matthew 24, we find the beginning of the chapter He's with the disciples and as the disciples are showing Christ the beautiful buildings of Jerusalem and the Temple, in a way they were kind of showing off this magnificence of the Temple. And in a way Christ said, "Don't be so amazed by this because it's not going to last. It's going to be destroyed." They were taken aback by that because in 40 years this is all going to be gone? And they began to realize there were more important things than just physical buildings. And so they asked Christ in verse 3 of Matthew 24, they said, "Tell us when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?"

Now imagine this. Perhaps they were hoping for an exact time He was going to come. Perhaps they were looking specifically for some type of a timeframe, an exact date that He might be coming back. But Christ gives them an answer likely they weren't expecting. Christ said this, "Take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name saying, 'I am the Christ,' and deceive many."

And so here we have, I think, an important aspect of watching. What did Christ say? "Watch out for spiritual deception." Or in other words, don't be deceived. Don't be fooled. Don't be taken in. And that's not only a warning for the disciples, that's a warning for us today. We need to watch. We need to watch out for spiritual deception. Christ, in this little bit of information that He gives right here, says there's going to be a religious movement at the time of the end and they would use the name of Christ. And what would happen? They would deceive. They will deceive. And they're going to lead most of the world astray because they are not watchful. And so Christ says very clearly, "Watch. Watch out for this. Protect your spiritual well-being," which means we've got to know the truth. We've got to understand what Christ taught. And so be careful about that.

And over and over and over again through Scripture, we're told just that, to be on guard, watch out. 1 Corinthians 16:13 is another good example where it says, "Watch. Stand fast in the faith. Be brave and be strong."

So Christ began with that very thought. Watch. Watch out for spiritual deception and do not be deceived.

That's BT Daily. See you next time.