Several years ago I was looking through my dresser drawer and came across several watches.  As I looked at them I thought about the commercial that Timex put out, “It takes a lickin’ but keeps on tickin’.”  Then I realized that none of those watches were Timex.  Those watches had taken a lickin’ but they did not keep on tickin’.  Why was that?  Some were very good watches, others were inexpensive.  Was it the fact that I did not care for them like I should?

            Man has done the same religiously.  God has said his word would endure, and that it would not return unto him void.  However, man has come along and tried to make things very elaborate in worship, ceremonial rites, etc., or have gone to the other extreme and have eliminated several things God has intended.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:21-25 not everyone will go to heaven but the one who does the will of the Father will go to heaven. John tells us in Revelation 22:18-19 concerning those who take away or add to God’s Word will not make it to heaven.  Those Christians who do the will of God and keep on tickin’ will make it to heaven.  Those who choose to do different will stop tickin’ and not make it to heaven.  Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Be ye steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

            Friend, let us keep on tickin’.  There are going to be times we will have to endure trials and tribulation.  Because of these “lickin’s” we need to take precaution that will keep us tickin’.  One of the watches I have became magnetized. How did it become that way?  I was working around equipment that I knew would cause the problem.  Other men I worked with had told me this would happen if I wore the watch around the equipment.  I thought I could work in such a way that I could keep it away from the particular piece of equipment.  However, before long it quit tickin’.  Why?  I had put it around something that would ruin it.  God has warned us of this very thing.  Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Be not deceived, evil communications corrupt good manners.”

            Another watch I had was put in the same environment but was ruined because of the dirt, and it quit tickin’.   Is that the way it is spiritually for us?  Do we dabble in the ways of the world?  Paul exhorts in Romans 12:1-2, “…be not conformed to this world.”  Please listen young people, as well as older people, when you allow yourself to be entangled with the pleasures of this life that are contrary to the teachings of God, you will stop tickin’.  Parents, let us not allow our children to engage in things that will hurt them spiritually.  We wouldn’t allow them to do something that was going to hurt them physically.  Look at what James wrote in James 1:14-15, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”  Wouldn’t it be a shame to stop tickin’ and lose our soul in hell because of our lusts?

            Those watches I had I tried to fix on several occasions but in a short time they were just the same as before, not tickin’.  If I had taken them to the jeweler they would have fixed them right and they would be tickin’.  Man today thinks he can direct his own steps, and that he can choose the way he wants to go.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” (John 14:6).  God has given us the things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-8).  If we apply these things to our lives we will keep tickin’.

            Let us examine ourselves to see that we are serving God (2 Corinthians 13:5).  The battery-operated watch I had that had digital reading would let me know when the battery was dead because I could not see the numbers.  As Christians, we need to keep watch not only for ourselves but also for each other.  When we see signs, of not showing up for worship, or engaging in the ways of the world, these might be signs of our batteries becoming low and about to stop tickin’.

            To keep our watches running properly we will make sure the battery is in good working order.  With the older watches you would wind it every day.  Let us do the same with our spiritual watch that it will keep on ticking.  Let us study our Bible daily, pray daily and help each other that we can have the home in heaven.  My friend, if you are not a child of God, you need to realize that your watch is not running.  You need to repent of your sins, confess Christ as the Son of God, and be baptized for the remission of your sins.  MAKE SURE YOUR WATCH IS TICKIN’!! OBEY TODAY!!!

Bob Rice