Watchman

 

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.   Ezekiel 3:17

God told Ezekiel he was a watchman.  

Watchman is an obsolete word.   

However, in the ancient world, the watchman was the one in a position to see what was happening.  

A city would build a wall.

The watchman was the one who would stay on the wall watching to see if an enemy was coming.  

If they saw an enemy, they would blow a trumpet and warn the people.  

Their job, if you will, was to report what they saw.  

They were to warn the people that the enemy was attacking.  

Friends, we are God's watchmen.   

We are the city on a hill, the perfect vantage point to see what is taking place.   

We can see the brother caught in addiction.  

We can see the sexual indiscretions. 

We can see our friend ready to make a bad choice.  

We can observe when those in authority make choices to overthrow justice.  

We also have the mind of Christ.  

We recognize evil and sin.  

People in the world don't always notice sin.  

As Christians, it's our job to sound the alarm to those around us of what we see happening.  

When we see a neighbor participating in sinful acts... 

it's our responsibility to make them aware of their sin.   

When we notice a coworker who is in a promiscuous lifestyle... 

yes, as God's observer, we must sound the alarm.  

When we see our leaders heading in a direction away from the path of God... 

as the lookout, we must speak up.  

Sometimes that's hard...

we don't want to rock the boat...

cause hard feelings...

or feel personally attacked.

It's our job as the salt and the light.  

It's our responsibility to our neighbor, coworker, friend, and anyone else God puts in our life.  

It may be for that reason that God has had our paths cross.   

We may be the only one to tell them of the peril that awaits if they continue on the road that they are on.

We aren't responsible for the outcome.   

We just have to speak up.  

It's their choice whether they listen or not.

God doesn't hold us accountable for whether they listen or not.

We are accountable to warn them.