Lighthouses, Lizards and Watchmen

At the very northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, there is a windswept, lonely-as- Hades rocky outcrop called Stevens Island. It is home to a unique “lizard”, the Tuatara, (too-a-tar-a) which is actually a reptile, rather than a lizard. It is the last remaining member of the ancient group of reptiles, Sphenodontia. Growing to 25-30 centimeters long, they are a direct link to the age of dinosaurs, and are often described as “living fossils”. Once spread across all the islands of New Zealand, they are now found only on a few predator free islands, where they live in burrows and feed on insects and bird eggs. Tuataras are one of the few reptiles that actually enjoy cool weather, and are usually very docile.

Stevens Island has another exclusive resident… a living lighthouse keeper. All but one of the many lighthouses dotted round our rocky coastline were automated in the 1960’s and 70’s, only Stevens Island has remained manned, not so much a sentinel for the shipping that plies our waters, but as a “guardian” for our living “dinosaurs”. The lighthouse keeper became a watchman for the creature that has become a valuable item to animal smugglers. Rich collectors will pay handsomely to own the rare living link to the distant past.

The role of watchman is both ancient and honorable, and throughout history they have saved countless lives with their warning cry of alarm from the watchtower.

And David sat between the two gates. And the watchman went up to the roof over the gate to the wall, and lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, a man ran alone. 2Samuel 18:24 

There are warning systems in place for today for most calamitous events, and scientists and geologists are working hard to be able to predict future earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Color coded “terrorist alerts” warn communities of security breaches and potential threats, yet there is no early warning system in place for the biggest tragedy of all!

There is no Red Alert for a child who is in danger of heading to hell because of their parents’ neglect

of their spiritual life. No flashing lights will warn a mother that her beloved teenage daughter is becoming hooked on illicit drugs.No alarm warns Christians wandering away from worship and God’s Word to return to the Lord. No red light stops us from going out and having too much to drink with friends. The world doesn’t have a two-minute warning for Judgment Day that gives us a game plan for the last few moments of our life. 

 

Thankfully, God has just such a warning system.  In Ezekiel 33:7-9 we read: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself. 

There is a great need for watchmen (and women) today; large portions of the Body of Christ are slumbering, and the enemy of our souls is hard at work. It is not the watchman’s job to please men, but rather to save them. We are no longer watchmen of the night, rather we sons and daughters of the light.

You are all the sons of light and the sons of the day. We are not of the night, or of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us watch and be calm. 1 Thessalonians 5:5-6

Our “job description” is clearly and well defined in Acts 26:18 “in order to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan to God, so that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.

The unbelievers that we all know are living in darkness, and unless we speak to them about salvation, they may never hear about the light of Christ. Will you be a watchman or woman?