{"id":2116,"date":"2026-02-11T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T17:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/?p=2116"},"modified":"2026-02-10T14:35:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T21:35:38","slug":"keeping-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/?p=2116","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">February 15, 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dreamstime_s_125695858.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"566\" src=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dreamstime_s_125695858.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2117\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dreamstime_s_125695858.jpg 800w, https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dreamstime_s_125695858-300x212.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dreamstime_s_125695858-768x543.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Shepherds in Luke 2 kept watch over their flock by night. This means that often the shepherd didn&#8217;t sleep at night because they kept their open on the surroundings. They protected. They ran off wild creatures. They scared away hirelings. They confronted wolves. They made sure the fences remained strong. And in a sense, we all have a shepherd&#8217;s responsibility to keep watch over one another, as Jesus keeps watch over our souls, and as the fivefold ministry watches over our growth and walk with God. Listen now&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_1463\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-2116-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Keeping-Watch.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Keeping-Watch.mp3\">https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Keeping-Watch.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Keeping-Watch.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/?powerpress_pinw=2116-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Keeping-Watch.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"Keeping-Watch.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/?feed=podcast&amp;mt=2&amp;ls=1\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_itunes\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Apple Podcasts\" rel=\"nofollow\">Apple Podcasts<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/?feed=podcast\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p><!--powerpress_player-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February 15, 2026 Shepherds in Luke 2 kept watch over their flock by night. This means that often the shepherd didn&rsquo;t sleep at night because they kept their open on the surroundings. They protected. They ran off wild creatures. They scared away hirelings. They confronted wolves. They made sure the fences remained strong. And in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_1465\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-2116-3\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Keeping-Watch.mp3?_=3\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Keeping-Watch.mp3\">https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Keeping-Watch.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Keeping-Watch.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/?powerpress_pinw=2116-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Keeping-Watch.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"Keeping-Watch.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/?feed=podcast&amp;mt=2&amp;ls=1\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_itunes\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Apple Podcasts\" rel=\"nofollow\">Apple Podcasts<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/?feed=podcast\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p><!--powerpress_player-->","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1003,1002,999,1001,1000,1004],"class_list":["post-2116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-jesus-message-podcasts","tag-dont-let-your-guard-down","tag-guarding-what-is-important","tag-keeping-watch","tag-protecting-the-flock","tag-shepherds-and-sheep","tag-watch-and-pray"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Keeping Watch - The Jesus Message<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thejesusmessage.org\/?p=2116\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keeping Watch - The Jesus Message\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"February 15, 2026 Shepherds in Luke 2 kept watch over their flock by night. 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