Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. Matthew 26:41.
What shall I say to arouse the remnant people of God? . . . I warn all who profess the name of Christ to closely examine themselves and make full and thorough confession of all their wrongs, that they may go beforehand to judgment, and that the recording angel may write pardon opposite their names. My brother, my sister, if these precious moments of mercy are not improved, you will be left without excuse. If you make no special effort to arouse, if you will not manifest zeal in repenting, these golden moments will soon pass, and you will be weighed in the balance and found wanting.
In the warning to “watch and pray,” Jesus has indicated the only safe course. There is need of watchfulness. Our own hearts are deceitful; we are compassed with the weaknesses and frailties of humanity, and Satan is intent to destroy. We may be off our guard, but our adversary is never idle. Knowing his tireless vigilance, let us not sleep, as do others, but “watch and be sober.” The spirit and influence of the world must be met, but they must not be allowed to take possession of the mind and heart.
Closely examine your own heart as in the light of eternity. Hide nothing from your examination. Search, oh! search, as for your life, and condemn yourself, pass judgment upon yourself, and then by faith claim the cleansing blood of Christ to remove the stains from your Christian character. Do not flatter or excuse yourself. Deal truly with your own soul. And then as you view yourself a sinner, fall, all broken, at the foot of the cross. Jesus will receive you, all polluted as you are, and will wash you in His blood, and cleanse you from all pollution, and make you fit for the society of heavenly angels, in a pure, harmonious heaven. There is no jar, no discord, there. All is health, happiness, and joy.
This world is a training school for the higher school, this life a preparation for the life to come. Here we are to be prepared for entrance into the heavenly courts. Here we are to receive and believe and practice the truth until we are made ready for a home with the saints in light.
When we lived in Washington state, we lived in a rural area that had high rolling hills, fields, some trees and few neighbors. Across the gravel road from us was a house set back quite a ways. A man, his wife, the man’s father, and at least 30 cats lived there. I hated those cats because they would come over to our yard and I am very allergic to cats.
We began to notice that fewer and fewer cats were coming over to our yard. Had all the times I’d chased them running and growling like a crazy woman finally scared them away? Looking across the road, I could see that there were fewer and fewer cats in the neighbor’s yard. That was puzzling. Where could they have gone?
Ronnie Jay was playing outside one day when he noticed an animal in the field north of their house. It seemed to be eating something. He was able to get a good look at the creature and ran into the house all excited about seeing a wolverine. It seemed strange that one would be in that area, but Ronnie was always very interested in wildlife and I had no doubts that if he said he saw a wolverine, he had truly seen one. We told our friends who did a lot of hiking and camping and they assured us that no wolverines were around there. They said he had to be mistaken.
A few days later, he saw the wolverine again. As it was farther away, he grabbed the binoculars and began stalking the animal. To his surprise, he saw it was eating a cat. Ahhhh! So that’s why the cats were disappearing! Again, we told our naturalist friends. Again, they told us that was impossible.
A few days later as Ronnie Jay and I were walking down the road, I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. This time both of us saw the wolverine! There was no doubt about it. It was not very far away. It faced us, raised up, and sniffed to see what we were. It definitely looked like all the wolverine pictures I had ever seen. It was marked like a wolverine. It turned and ran away with that distinctive run that only a wolverine has.
That wolverine stayed around as long as there were cats across the road. Then it moved on. About this time, the lady across the street remarked to Eileen, “I don’t know where all my cats have been gonig. They’ve totally disappeared. The only three we have left absolutely refuse to go outside. I don’t know what’s gotten into them.” Eileen didn’t tell her that the three that were left were the only ones who were smart. Those cats knew what had happened to their fellows and they had no desire to be a wolverine’s meal!