13 Be
watchful. 1 Corinthians 16:13
A key teaching in Christianity is that believers are to be on guard spiritually. In fact, the word in verse 13 translated alert or watchful is used 22 times in the New Testament and is often used in reference to the Christian and the Christian life. It literally means to be awake instead of asleep. Paul is using the word figuratively and spiritually here stressing the fact that spiritual alertness is the key to a healthy and wholesome Christian life.
The Corinthians needed to wake up spiritually. They were delusional thinking they had
arrived spiritually even though their world around them was crumbling. Though they thought they had things
under control, their church was filled with division, sexual immorality,
drunkenness and heresy. They were a mess,
yet had no clue they were.
There
are many believers today in the same boat—asleep at the wheel in a spiritual
stupor. Though they think they are “ok” because
they are in church every week nodding their head in agreement to what’s being
said, they are laxed in their spiritual life.
Many are too comfortable and overconfident—convinced
they have the Christian life licked.
Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 10:12 that when one gets to this point
they better take alarm—wake up and keep watch or a fall is likely.
Instead of sitting back and
coasting, God’s people need to be always striving, never satisfied always
pushing forward in their walk with Christ with the mindset of Paul who said in
Philippians 3:13-14,
One thing I do:
forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward
the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
