When you go hiking, one of the structures you may encounter are lookout towers. They’re erected so the US Parks and forestry services can use them to lookout for fires, lost hikers, etc. They are also important guide markers for hikers. If you get lost and look up, you’ll see this tower and can hike to it for help. All and all pretty cool.
Lookout towers aren’t a modern idea. Through history, groups have erected towers or walls to serve this very function but often in those times the lookout towers were meant to watch for enemies.
But here’s the thing about lookout towers. They are only as good as the lookout him or herself. If the lookout is lazy, sleeping, distracted, or disinterested then they will never actually see what is coming and won’t be able to warn their neighbors and friends.
We are called to be the lookouts for others. Instead of just focusing on ourselves, Paul instructs us to look out for others.
Why?
Well, because we will have a better viewpoint sometimes. We will have the larger perspective. We will see something they’ve missed. We can alert them when we see danger which they’ve missed. We can serve as the source of help in the tower when they come to it for aid.
It’s hard to look out for the interests of others. We naturally just care about ourselves and our needs. So, God is calling us to change our mindset. He wants us to lookout for others so they don’t get lost along the way or overtaken by enemies.
And if we all change our mindset and accept our true calling of a lookout, then the beauty is we will all be a lookout and have a lookout. None of us will be alone in the deep forests – alone and lost. We will all have someone looking and watching out for us.
Finally, when we serve as a lookout, we are bringing others to God. How? Because God is the watchtower. God is our refuge from the storms and dangers of this life. God is the beacon we look to when we’ve become lost in the woods.
“The name of the Lord is a mighty tower, the righteous man runs to it and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10)
“God is our mighty fortress, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46)
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge.” (Psalm 18).
We are called to serve as lookouts in God’s Mighty Tower to help others find Him and take refuge from the dangers of this life.
So, wake up! Be alert! Watch out for others! Be the lookout God expects you to be! #CreatedForMore #APurposeDrivenLife
Adonai's Appeal 