The Making Of Empowered Heroes Through Watchfulness From Empty Zeroes
Mark 13:37; 1 Samuel 24:8, 14; 1 Chronicles 11:9.
It is possible to be born in a Christian home and not have Christ in one’s heart. When you separate the word ‘Christ’ from, ‘Christian,’ you are left with ‘IAN’ which means ‘I Am Nothing’. Without Christ in our lives, without Christ controlling us, leading us, and granting us grace, we are nought which is another word for zero. Without Christ living in us, and without us living by the grace of Christ, we are nonessentials. It is the presence and control of Christ in our lives that makes us new-born—born again and born anew. With Christ in your life, you become noble. Christ is always full and complete while the person without Christ is a zero. When you come unto Christ, your zero becomes ten, and you will soon become a hero. For this to happen, Christ gives us the word, ‘watch.’ “And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” (Mark 13:37).
1. THE FOUNDATIONAL WATCHFULNESS OF VIRTUOUS HEROES (THE FORMER WILFULNESS OF VISIONLESS ZEROES)
Mark 13:33-37.
The hero has a vision, a mission, and a passion, and operates in a nation. The hero is one who carries the vision, makes it a mission, and goes on to pursue it with passion. WATCH: Watch over your:
- W – Words, Ways and Will – Matthew 12:37. Words make or break us. Positive words are powerful words. When you tell yourself the words of Christ and the Bible and speak His words into your life, you will be able to do all things. Watch the words you speak to others, the words you speak to yourself, and the words you turn over in your mind. As you watch your words, you watch your way. The way that zeroes go is usually broad and crowded, but the way of heroes is narrow and that is the one you should choose. God created us with a will, and when you set your mind on something, you can and will do it.
- A – Actions, Attitude, and Appearance (Ambitions & Attainment) – 1 Samuel 2:3. Zeroes are people who act without thinking. Your attitude reflects on your face, and it matters. If your attitude is mean, your facial appearance will be mean. You should also watch your appearance and dress in a way that will bring you respect.
- T – Tests, Temptations, and Trials (Temperaments) – Matthew 26:41. Heroes don’t accept every offer. Zeroes may yield to temptations, but heroes know when to say no to tests and temptations.
- C – Conscience, Character, Conviction – Acts 24:16. As you have a body, you also have a conscience, and just as you will not let anyone use a hot iron to sear your body, you will not do it to your conscience as well. Zeroes take care of their bodies more than they take care of their conscience, while heroes are careful about their conscience, their character, and their convictions. Zeroes don’t have any conviction or principle.
- H – Heart, Habits, Heavenward Highway (Holiness) – Proverbs 4:23. Our heart is the source that produces every action of our lives like where we go and what we decide. Heroes think about their habits. You cannot be a hero if you don’t think about your heart, your habits, and the heavenly highway.
Watching over all these are the fundamental principles for a hero.
2. THE FAITHFUL WATCHFULNESS OF VIGILANT HEROES (THE FATAL WANTONNESS OF VAGABOND ZEROES)
1 Peter 4:7; 5:8-9.
You need vigilant watchfulness in a place of insecurity and in a place where you are surrounded by people who want to influence your life. “And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” (Mark 13:37). Those who have gone before us succeeded by watchfulness, and those of us who are following can only succeed by doing the same. WATCH: Watch over the:
- W – Waiting Periods in Life – Lamentation 3:25-26. Whether you are waiting for a job or for someone to get married to, watch. If we are going to be the hero God wants us to be in life, we must understand the waiting period of life and be careful about it. Many voices will speak to you and many ideas will come to you during the waiting period, but you must decide to watch over your waiting periods.
- A – Angry Passions that Limit – Jonah 4:1,3-4,9-11. Society makes people have the passion of anger, and when that angry passion goes with us through life, it makes the people who want to pull us up in climbing the steps for heroes to back off and push us away. Therefore, watch against the angry passions that limit people.
- T – Thorny Parcels of Land – Mark 4:18-19. There will be thorns in the way as you walk through the road to the farm where you are going to produce and have the harvest of the hero. The unstoppable people in life and the heroes in life see and feel the thorns but they decide that it will not stop them. You may have thorns in the family, at school, at work, in the nation, or from friends, but you will not be discouraged, disappointed, or stressed out. Some young people today have depression and distress because of the thorns in their lives. Take a day at a time with the thorns, manage them, and make yourself happy and excited going through life without distress, discouragement, or thoughts of suicide. The thorns in life mean nothing to the courageous and focused people who know the peak of the mountain they want to reach.
- C – Corrupting Personalities for Looseness – 2 Peter 2:19-20. There are corrupt people everywhere, and they come to you especially when they know you are hungry for association. You must watch against such corrupting people so that they will not suck you into their system and make you forget your dreams, the peak, and the prophecies of your life.
- H – Hateful Propensities Toward Lawlessness – 1 John 3:12-15. There is a hateful propensity that we brought into the world, and it is like a wild plant that if we allow, it will outgrow the flowers in our lives. There are people who nurture in their minds hatred for members of their families, hatred for other tribes, hatred for people who don’t look like them or speak the same language as they do, and hatred for people in power, but you must watch over those hateful propensities in your life. When you have the attitude of watchfulness, you will go from zero to hero, become fruitful and become a success in your personal life, spiritual life, relationships, and in everything you plan and do.
If the word ‘watch’ becomes your watchword, you will go through life watching.
3. THE FRUITFUL WATCHFULNESS OF VICTORIOUS HEROES (THE FRUITLESS WATCHFULNESS OF VANISHING ZEROES)
When you watch, you will have the:
- W – Wise Willingness for the “Wonderful” – Isaiah 9:6-7; 1:18-19. Christ is called Wonderful, Counsellor, Healer, Saviour, and Redeemer, and because everything He does in your life is wonderful, you will have willingness for Him. It is willingness that takes us to the place we want to get to.
- A – Acceptable Attitude with Abraham – Genesis 22:16,18. Like Abraham, you must put God first when He sends His word to you or gives you a command.
- T – Transforming Truth with Timothy – 1 Timothy 2:3-4. There are different kinds of truth, but if we spend all our lives on truths that do not transform, they will not make us the heroes we want to be and the heroes we ought to be. The truth we have in Christ is the truth that transforms us and makes us free when we accept, believe, and allow to control our lives.
- C – Constant Courage with Caleb – Numbers 14:6-8,24. When you decide that you want to achieve what others have not achieved before, and people want to stop you, constant courage in your life will take you to the level of the hero. There are people to lose courage because of what they see, what they hear, and how they feel, but David had confidence, conviction, and courage that when the king said he could not confront Goliath, he kept his courage and became a hero. We become heroes by never losing our courage, conviction, and confidence in the Lord.
- H – Holistic Healing with Hezekiah – 2 Kings 20:1-6. The word ‘holistic’ means complete, wholesome, and total. When a part of the body has a problem of sickness, it can affect the whole body and bring disarray in your personality. But God who has called us and is leading us on has holistic healing for us; He can heal our mind, heal the broken spirit, heal our thought pattern, and heal our body.
As we watch over all these, we are taking steps to become a hero. Stop thinking, talking, or acting like you did in the past; a new day has come and as your zero comes near the integral One, you will become a hero. Turn away from the past, focus on the future, give your heart and your hand to Jesus, and He will take you to the top.