"Our Lord and Master left to us the following sayings as living lights in our darkness: 'What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch' (Mark 13:37;) and, 'If the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.' (Luke 12:39.)" Thus Mrs. Eddy begins her article entitled "Watching versus Watching Out," on page 232 of Miscellany.
And then she continues farther on: "Can watching as Christ demands harm you? It cannot. Then should not 'watching out' mean, watching against a negative watch, alias, no watch, and gaining the spirit of true watching, even the spirit of our Master's command? It must mean that."
Among the definitions for "watch" in one dictionary are found the following: "To be on the alert, to be vigilant," "to be on the watch for," "to fulfil the duty of a watchman, sentinel, or guard." And a definition, now obsolete, is "to be or remain awake." These definitions denote activity, alertness, and being vigilantly awake.
