We are told twice by Jesus to stay awake. What does that mean? What are we being asked to do?

The example Jesus gave was of a doorkeeper charged with staying awake. In this story, there is no thief breaking in that needs to be guarded against. The servant needs to stay awake because the master will return.

We need to be awake when the Master returns.

When Jesus returns, we’ll see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. That’s what Jesus describes, along with other great signs in the heavens. No one is going to miss it. No one will be asleep at that moment.

But it makes me think of the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. They were all asleep. That’s not a safe place. They are all asleep until they hear the bridegroom coming. Some of those asleep where prepared to meet Him. Some were not, but there was no time to prepare because He had already come.

Jesus also warns multiple times about not following after false teachers, people claiming to be Jesus.

I have been asked, “How do you know you are following the right Jesus?” I had never been asked that or thought anything about that before. But the answer is, we get to know the real Jesus, so we recognize when we’re confronted with a fake.

We get to know Him through His word. We wake up and sit up and read our Bibles. We have to know Him for ourselves. Get familiar with Him, so something fake stands out, even if you can’t pinpoint the problem at first. You just know it’s different.

Stay alert. The devil deceives. Don’t wander off following another. Stay awake. Keep Your eyes on Jesus. Put your hand in His.