An Apple Watch, Wonder, Worship, and Waiting for the Lord...

Yesterday, I found myself reflecting on my once-upon-a-time-Apple-Watch.

Purchased as a brand new Series 2 (I think the new ones are Series 8, so that tells you its age), it promised to improve my health, keep my memory on track, alert me to incoming text messages and emails, advise me of the weather, cook dinner, and tell time.

No question, it kept many of those promises.

Each year it got older, and newer models hit the shelves, but my trusty old watch kept ticking.

Until this year, when it died a natural death; and, upon its demise I decided not to replace it. 

That decision didn't require much thought. 

You see, what started out as a pleasant give-and-take relationship, began to take a troubling turn. 

The thing became extremely bossy. 

It yelled at me to get up and move more. 

It beeped at me when I didn't immediately respond to its reminders...

...and, I'm not sure it wasn't swearing at me when I was late heading outside for my daily walk. 

When it started demanding I leave for appointments RIGHT NOW, or take my daily supplements, or find a moment to breathe, I began to think it simply invasive.

So, my wrist is now watch free.

For the first few weeks, I must have looked down at my wrist a hundred or more times a day to see what time it was or to check for messages/reminders; AND, because most of the time, I had the volume muted and the vibrate option on for notifications, there were times I felt phantom vibrations on my wrist, and glanced down to see what my watch wanted now...

Even from watch-heaven the thing attempted to direct my life.

Honestly, I had no clue how frequently I watched my watch...

Over time, as the tan lines faded from my wrist, I finally stopped looking.

I began to realize something important.

As I stopped watching my watch to see the time, or how many steps I'd taken, or if I had any incoming messages, I had more time to look around at my world.

I began to notice little things: 

Lady bugs on the leaves of the wild flowers on the side of the road...

The signs of changing seasons...

The bright blue of the morning sky...

A caterpillar crossing my path...

When my eyes were distracted, I noticed my wonder and delight at the Lord's creation waned...and, that meant, so, too, my worship.

I might have even missed things I certainly should have been cautious of, like this spider I nearly stepped on top of in my oblivion...

In all this watch-pondering, my mind took a turn to the number of times Scripture uses words relating to having our eyes open, watching, looking... 

We are to watch how the Lord is at work in our lives...

We are to keep our eyes on Jesus, the one who writes the story of our faith-life...

We are to steadfastly watch over (guard) the gospel so that it is not maligned, added to, or taken away from...

...and, we are to watch, wait, and listen for the Lord to speak to us, guarding our own souls (Proverbs 24:12), that we might escape temptation (Mark 14:38) and avoid a spirit of religious pride (Matthew 16:6)...

BUT, most of the time, Scripture tells us, our eyes are to be open and looking for the signs of His coming (Matthew 25:13).

Peter writes about those who mock this notion, and his grave concern over how the church as a whole might be affected (read 2 Peter 3). Paul touched on the same with the Thessalonians...

However, over the years, I fear far greater than trouble caused by scoffers from outside, the church's "watch" has died on the inside...

(and, I am the church, so no pointy fingers, here.)

Gone is the potency of the message.

We've become dull of heart to its critical importance. 

Most of all, because we aren't watching, waiting, worshipping, and working with this in mind, our lives are lived carelessly and unfocused.

So, as Peter wrote the displaced church of God in those early years of Christianity, perhaps we need a reminder:

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for [the return of the Lord], be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 3:14-18, ESV

We don't need an Apple Watch to notify us of the "times," or boss us about; but, we do need to be on the alert:

Eyes open in wonder: WATCHING... 

Worshiping.

Waiting.

Welcoming the Coming of the Lord.