“The Old Watch”

It has been a few years since the old watch quit working. That old Timex watch succumbed to the ravages of time and age. Contrary to popular belief, even the watch that “takes a licking and keeps on ticking” finally gave up the ghost. I came across that old watch sometime back, and wondered why I had discarded it for a new one.   It did not take me long to remember why I put that which was nigh unto vanishing away into an old box in my closet in exchange for a new one at the local super market.   I could not rely upon the Timex. The problem was not that it never ran. It ran great – when it ran. But for some reason when the long hand approached the 12, it would stick. It never stuck in the same place either. Sometimes it was around the 10; at other times around the 11, or just shy of the 12.   Sometimes it would stick for just a second or two; more often than not, however, it stuck for several minutes at a time.   So over the course of just a few hours the watch would be so far off time that it was, for all practical purposes, useless.

I’ve known a lot of brethren that are like that old watch. Every congregation has their fair share of unreliable members. Oh, they run great when the hand is on the down side of 12.   But when it became an uphill struggle to reach the high mark, they would get stuck, bogged down on first one thing and then another. When all is said and done, such brethren simply cannot be relied upon.

Webster defines “reliable” as, “to rest with confidence, as when we are satisfied of the veracity, integrity, or ability of persons, or of the certainty of facts or of evidence; to trust with, on, or upon.” The Bible puts it this way:   “Who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle? ….. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not” (Psalms 15:4). Once a promise is made, even if circumstances should turn out to be not as ideal as we had anticipated, we are obligated to follow through on our commitment. Even if it means our own “hurt.”   While we may not be shocked at the lack of dependability of those who are not members of the Lord’s body, we are taken aback at the increasing number of Christians who make promises, but fail to fulfill them.   Where is that once-faithful soul who swore allegiance to his or her Master but no longer attends faithfully? What has happened to that would-be Bible class teacher who once said, “I’ll teach,” only to be among the growing number who cannot be depended upon to be present for class, much less to teach? Where are those men who signed up to serve on the table, knowing full well that you can’t depend upon them to be there when it comes time for them to serve? All too often talent cards lay stacked in the church office, or entered into a computer. But when it comes time to pull names for service, like the nine ungrateful lepers, duty to one’s Lord and Master has been relegated to the back burner, and trustworthiness has once again fallen upon hard times.

I threw that watch away that day. It was of no value to me whatsoever. On the judgment day, those who failed to follow through on their word will, like that old watch, be discarded by the Owner and Master of all mankind.

by Tom Wacaster