Stay Awake

Mark 13:32-37
After Jesus describes to his disciples the end times he finishes with emphasizing to them to stay awake, lest the Lord return suddenly and find them asleep.  I fear we have simply interpreted this to mean those that are awake are those who prayed to receive Christ and are waiting for his return, and those who are asleep are those who have not prayed this and do not know he is returning.  To think this is to miss Jesus' warnings.  We spend our lives trying to maintain a past decision we made, trying to follow some pattern or standard of what is expected of someone who has prayed such a prayer.  This, we determine is the christian life and what Jesus means by staying awake.  This cannot be.  Take Ephesians 5:11-18 into consideration with this passage.  We are told to wake up, to let Christ's light shine to expose our darkness.  To walk as wise, understanding what the Lord's will is, and be filled with the Spirit.  This is not maintaining a past decision, but persevering in a current walk, which only Christ can lead us in, through his Holy Spirit.  Maintaining a past decision according to acceptable standards is fleshly and self-led.  Look at Jesus talking to his disciples in Gethsemane (14:32-42).  He tells them to watch and pray (same language used here in chapter 13 that we are discussing), and yet finds them asleep.  He warns them that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.  It doesn't matter that they wanted to remain awake and or had been awake up until now, their perseverance had stopped, and flesh had taken over, and this is to be asleep, and as a result they all fell away (Matthew 26:31, 56).  Take this back to our warnings in chapter 13 and we have our answer.  As end of times approach, persecution and deception will increase.  If our walk with Jesus is not currently alive and Spirit-led, no matter what our desires are or what our life has looked like in the past, we will either fall away or be led away.  If we are not currently following the Spirit then we are following the flesh (Gal. 5:16-18).  And flesh is weak and cannot discern false prophets and cannot endure persecution.  Matthew 24:10 refers to this as "falling away".  Does this not speak of those who are seemingly in Christ, yet fall away from the faith?  Not people who are clearly outside the faith.  These people are looking for Christ to return, yet they cannot discern between the real one and the false one's that will come.  He gives us the example of observing a fig tree and determining seasons by its sprouting.  But don't forget the lesson of the fig tree in Mark 11.  This fig tree was beautiful in appearance and leafy, yet barren.  It had sprouted in the wrong season (11:13), and as a result was withered to the root.  The real question is not have you prayed in the past or desired him in the past, but are you currently walking with and truly desiring him?  Now the disciples, although they fell away, were reconciled to Jesus after his resurrection, but the falling away we are talking about affords no such luxury.  There will be no reconciliation.  If lukewarmness or indifference has set in, serious questions need to be asked before it is too late, and we are found to asleep.