Vigilant and Diligent
Chaplain Bill Wolfe
Llano County Sheriff’s Department
Welcome once again to the Chaplain’s Corner. To paraphrase Mark Twain "the rumors of my retirement were a bit premature." I don’t know who was more surprised to get the word.me or the Sheriff. I guess it was my using the words "parting comment" last month that gave rise to the idea I was retiring. Nope. Can’t get rid of me that easy.I mean that soon. Ah! I heard Fred back there say "I knew it was too good to be true." ☺
Vigilant and Diligent... two words that rhyme and have similar but different meanings. (Uh oh.Was I supposed to post a "Warning: Educational Content" before I got started like they do on Mythbusters?) I bring them up not because I found two words that rhyme, but because they came to mind as I reflected on one of the calls from the other day. They are words that label qualities that we should possess in this business. They are also words that play in the spiritual realm as well.
Probably most of you have heard of the guy suspected of killing 5 persons here in Central Texas and was finally caught in New York at the end of August. That whole nightmare started in my patrol area not long after my shift ended that day. The days that followed required heightened vigilance while on patrol and diligence on the part of the investigators trying to find the guy. But, even though we strive to condition ourselves to always have these qualities in play on the job, how many of us seek to do the same in our spiritual lives?
According to the dictionary: Diligent: 1. persevering and careful in work. Diligence: 1. the quality of being diligent; constant, careful effort; perseverance. I’ve often heard the term "doing due diligence." What does that mean? Well, in an LE setting, it means checking something out for yourself and not just taking someone’s word on it, doesn’t it? When there’s a possibility of a suspect being in a building or trailer, do you check it or do you take someone else’s word that the suspect wasn’t in there yesterday so they won’t be there today? That could get you killed, couldn’t it? But isn’t that the way we approach spiritual things - taking someone else’s word? How many have said that "God doesn’t" or "Jesus is just" or "Jesus isn’t" and can also say that that belief is based on a personal diligent "checking it out?" Be honest now. Remember a while back, I brought up the Scripture in Proverbs that says "those who diligently seek Me will find me."
Now, when someone comes to you and wants to be a confidential informant, do you automatically accept whatever they tell you? Or do you do some diligence to check up on them and decide whether or not they are in a position to know what they’re talking about? All right, how many check out the credentials of those talking down God to see if they are truly in a position to know what they’re talking about? Okay, let’s leave that for now.
Vigilant: staying watchful and alert to danger or trouble. Vigilance: the quality or state of being vigilant; watchfulness. For the last couple of days, our dispatchers had been broadcasting a BOLO. We were to keep a sharp eye out for a suspect and vehicle even though we may not have expected to see either. In our business we sometimes keep a sharp eye out for something specific, or it may be for that "something out of place" or "just doesn’t look right." Vigilance could be the difference in whether or not we go home at the end of the shift.
Vigilance is important in our spiritual lives too. The Apostle Paul talks about the "sin that does so easily beset us." We need to be mindful and watch out for the things that would pull us away from God. But vigilance also applies to watching for God’s impending intervention in human history. Jesus told a parable about a group waiting for a wedding to start. The ones that kept watching (vigilant) were ready when the call came to go in and start the festivities; the others were shut out. He also talked about signs of the end times. He said that when we saw the signs starting to fall into place, we were to "look up" or, in other words, to keep a vigilant watch because things will be about to wind up.
Compare the newspaper and the Book of Revelation and see if you don’t agree that it’s time to get diligent and vigilant about the things of God. He’ll be looking for those who are when He comes to intervene in history again. Give it some thought.
Until next time, then: Blessings to you and yours.
Chaplain Bill
llanochaps@moment.net
