The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Mark 13:33-37, “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is.

34 “It is like a man, away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert.

35 “Therefore, be on the alert– for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, at cockcrowing, or in the morning–

36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.

37 “And what I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!'”

With illnesses and crime abounding everywhere, we would do well to “be on the alert.” Two young highschoolers in our area teamed up to produce an interactive “Crime Map.” You can view it here (https://lkellar.org/maps/). Unfortunately, it only reports on occurrances in our local area. Due to increased criminal activity, scores of homes have introduced various protective alert systems. We are more interested, it seems, in guarding our possessions than we are with guarding thoughts.

Four times in the five verses above, Mark warns us to “be on the alert.” Crime existed in New Testament times, too; yet, I believe Mark was primarily (if not exclusively) encouraging us to be alert to the Coming of Jesus Christ, not just the coming of theives. There is so much distraction from the Word of God, that even long-time Christians are weakened in their focus by the avalanche of contemporary nonsense.

Mark’s emphasis on “alertness” might also cover the books that we read. Just in case you hadn’t noticed, there is a proliferation of published works by various pastors, each one laying before us his own understanding (or misunderstanding) of the message of Holy Scripture. An increasing number of the Christian congregation are now invaded by various thoughts of interpretation, some of which distance themselves considerably from Scripture. We need to be on the alert and start searching the Word of God instead of simply imbibing the words of men.

Unquestionably, there are some good, Christian books available. But, they must all be measured against the Scriptures God has given us, not the Scriptures measured by the books of men. Just

be careful! Remember the clever subtilty of the serpent Satan in the Garden of Eden. What’s more, he’s still at it! “Be on the alert!”

Heartily in Christ Jesus,

(Dado III)

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas 72764

United States of America

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”