Watching

What connects the following? A computer screen, people, sport, clouds, birds, Strictly ....!
The answer is that we all watch these  - in varying amounts each day or week. We spend a great deal of life watching people or events and much else.
How well do we watch? Do we watch for entertainment, information, as part of our work, or to make a difference in the world?
Jesus was clearly very observant about people and nature, and spent much of his teaching using illustrations for his observations. He was good at watching.
So was Jeremiah, the prophet in Jerusalem in about 600BC.
Soon after he receives his commission, we read of this fascinating exchange. 'Then the Lord said to me, “Look, Jeremiah! What do you see?”
   And I replied, “I see a branch from an almond tree.”
  And the Lord said, “That’s right, and it means that I am watching, and I will certainly carry out all my plans.”
  Then the Lord spoke to me again and asked, “What do you see now?”
   And I replied, “I see a pot of boiling water, spilling from the north.” (Jeremiah 1.11-13)
We may wonder what this is all about.
The footnotes tell us that the Hebrew for  'almond tree' sounds like 'watching'. The pot spilling from the north is more obvious.
But as Jeremiah saw and watched what was going on around him, so he learned that the Lord was watching too.
In our own day, we can be watching people and events, and asking the Lord to make things clear to us, so that we too can make sense of what we watch. Then, like Jeremiah or Jesus, we can speak and live in step with the Lord.
Best wishes with your watching today.
Richard