“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day” (Matt. xxv. 13).
Jesus illustrates the unexpectedness of His coming by the figure of a
thief entering a house when the master was not there. Life, like the old
Jewish night, may be divided into three watches, youth, maturity, old age.
The summons to meet God may come to us in either of these watches. A
writer tells us of his experience with a camping party, of which he was a
member, and which, he tells us, always arranged to have watches at night.
“We became especially careful after what I am about to narrate happened.
During the first night, from sunset to sunrise, we had in turn carefully
guarded our camp. But when the next night came, so impressed were we with
the orderly character of the neighborhood, that we concluded that no guard
was needed until bedtime. Within our main tent the evening was spent in
story-telling, singing and general amusement. When the hour to retire
arrived, it was discovered that our other tents had been robbed and
everything of value stolen. The work was done before we thought a guard
necessary.” It is never too soon to begin watching against sin.