I don’t think I’m alone in saying that ink is a frustrating topic. Maybe not the ink itself, but having enough of it at the right time certainly is! My current frustration is with printers, but even back when I had a typewriter, it was the same story—right in the middle of an important project, the ink would run dry.

This isn’t, however, only a problem with these machines. Ballpoint pens, quill pens—same story: no ink, no writing.

A few years ago, I planned trips I hoped to take. I would search the internet for interesting attractions and print them out. We burned through so much ink that we were constantly running to the store for more.

We tried different printers, brands, black-and-white vs. color—still, the ink always ran out mid-project.

When our printer broke, we decided to replace it with a printer that advertised an ink program. Somehow, the company would monitor our ink levels and send a new cartridge before we ran out! Wow! You can be sure that we signed up! Ink supply problem resolved!

I wish I could say there haven’t been any further ink frustrations, but that would be a lie. The program requires that you pay according to how many pages you print each month, and going over the limit results in extra charges. Understandable—but who, besides the company, keeps track of how many pages they print? Our first “heads-up” was the higher bill at month’s end! You can track such things online, but we never could get into the habit of checking regularly. Imagine our surprise when a gift project ended up costing over $50 in ink alone!

So what do we do? Go back to the frustrations of never having enough ink to finish a project? Of having to drop everything and run down to the local electronics store for more ink? Should we cancel our ink plan? Get a new printer? But the truth is, the issue wasn’t really the printer—it was a lack of vigilance. We weren’t paying attention!

We all need vigilance. It’s wise to check on all areas of our lives regularly, but one area where vigilance is absolutely essential is our spiritual health.

1 Corinthians 16:13 tells us, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.” (NIV).

Colossians 4:2 admonishes us, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” (NIV)

Then there’s Proverbs 4:23: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (NIV)

We know that our enemy, the devil, “…prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NIV). The only way to see him coming is to … be vigilant! To be on our guard! To be watchful! To guard our hearts!

This doesn’t mean we need to live in fear. Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27 NIV) Being vigilant isn’t synonymous with being paranoid. It simply means we post a watchman. We take a moment once in awhile to look around us. We avoid temptation where we can, and we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus!

Oh, and we decided against buying a new printer or canceling our ink plan. Instead, we went down to a 50-page per month plan and resolved to be—VIGILANT!

Inspired by Rob Chaffart
Founder, Answers2Prayer Ministries