ALERTNESS (vs. unawareness) – The ability to anticipate right responses to that which is taking place around me.

(The verse for this character quality is Mark 11:38)

- Learning to pay attention to all the lessons God is teaching through authorities, friends and experiences. Learning to foresee dangers and fully understand the consequences of present words, actions, attitudes, and thoughts.

“Set a strong guard about your outward senses: These can be Satan’s landing places, especially the eyes and ears.” – William Gurnall

The Biblical words to describe alertness are BEWARE and VIGILANCE. There can be three different intensities of alertness. First, giving general oversight to that which is around you. Second, carefully guarding those put under your care. Thirdly, paying attention to, and being very cautious about and aware of all that is going on around you. 1 Peter 5: 8 says that the devil would like nothing better than to catch us “napping”. We need to keep our guard up. Keeping a firm grip on our faith.

What must we protect?
1. Our Time (Eph. 5:16)
2. Our Health (Prov. 5:11)
3. Our Purity (Prov. 6:26)
4. Our Intimacy with God (Is. 59:2)
5. Our Family and Friends (Prov. 16:28)
6. Our Good Name (Prov. 22:1)
7. Our Money and Possessions (Prov. 11:16)
8. Our Eternal Reward (Rev. 3:11)

What is the basis of our Alertness?
Our Physical Senses and Corresponding Spiritual Senses.
1. Sight- “Open my eyes so I can see, show me your miracle wonders.” Ps. 119:18
2. Hearing- “Don’t pick up the bad habit of not listening to God and his truths.” Heb. 5;11
3. Taste- “Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see how good God is. Blessed are you who run to Him.” Ps. 34:8
4. Touch- “We heard the truth, with our ears, saw with our eyes, verified it with our own hands.” 1 John 1:1
5. Smell- “through us, He brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ we give off a sweet scent rising to God!” 2 Cor. 2:16

How Can we Develop Greater ALERTNESS? By recognizing that life involves cause and effect sequences. Alertness is motivated by the realization that actions have predictable results. We reap WHAT we sow! We Reap WHERE we sow. We reap MORE than we sow. We reap in a different SEASON than we sow. (Gal. 6:8-9)

Personal Evaluation: (Am I Alert?)
Are you aware of opportunities God gives to witness and encourage others to grow spiritually?

What is the last problem you could have avoided by being more alert?

Have you learned how to “tune out” distractions that hinder you from being alert to the right things?