W is for WATCH

I'm a bit of a gadget man when it comes to watches though it didn't start out that way. My first watch, gold framed with a cream analogue face and reddish-brown leather strap arrived courtesy of Christmas and was made by a company called Ingersoll, though they never knew I had it. Its only nod in the direction of gadgetry was a little rectangular window through which a number between 1 and 31 poked to remind me of the present date and luminous hands that shone in the middle of the night to inform me how much more sleep I needed. Somewhere in the mists of time it disappeared from my arm, though I think it probably broke or the strap fell off and for a long while I was watchless with no time on my hands until an old girlfriend wanted more time with me and bought me a delightful Citizen silver watch with a blue shiny face and silver bracelet. Now I've never been one for watches with bracelets. The catch is almost always awkward to open and shut, the bracelet always seems slightly loose and it plays havoc with the hairs on my wrist, sending excruciating pains to my brain. I write this, aware that at the moment I am wearing a silver bracelet watch, but its elastic nature allows a much more secure fit even if my hairs are being agonisingly pulled out in clumps! Still I wore the blue faced watch for some time but in time, her time had come to go and it seemed inappropriate to continue wearing someone else's ideas. However, being the good citizen that I was, I persevered with it until my next lady friend began to pry into its origins and as I had already decided that she was likely to be my future wife, I disposed of the silver bracelet in the top drawer of my dresser.

Since that time I have been reluctant to spend large amounts of money on watches, preferring to have a multifunctional timepiece and a plastic strap for less than the price of half a dozen fish suppers. I've had two calculators watches, where the number pads required a sharp finger nail to distinguish between buttons. Then there was a radio watch, but the earphone lead always got tangled, while another allowed me to relieve the boredom playing space invaders. Most had stopwatches and split timers that I rarely used, databanks with addresses and phone numbers, world clocks that were irrelevant except when my Australian friend rang and one even had a pulse checker but I was never relaxed enough to check it. I had white dials, black dials, green backlights, blue backlights, natural backlights, square faces, round faces, many with alarms, some with a button on every corner, water resistant to depths beyond my safety limit in the bath, analogue, digital and sometimes both. Yet they all stopped working in the end because the power that kept them going had died and it was as cheap to buy a new watch as replace the battery!

I need God's power of His Holy Spirit in my life every day. If I choose to ignore it, I am failing to utilise the greatest power source that has ever existed for Jesus told his disciples, 'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you.' And soon after we witness that, ' With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.' Though my watches have changed, time hasn't and God's power is still able to light up your face and move your hands into action. And His timing is perfect