What does 'To Watch' mean in The Bible? (Excerpts from a Teaching by Greg Lauer).

Watch. That's the word, isn't it? That's the word on the lips of every born-again believer out there today living in obedience to the copious number of verses in Scripture that tell us to live in eager, active anticipation of the Lord's soon coming. The word on the lips of many believers today is "Watch." This refers to the anticipation of the Lord's coming and the Rapture for those secure in Christ. The Church Age is ending, and believers must remain vigilant. The way prophetic events are racing inexorably toward their divinely ordained fulfillment, it's looking more and more as if the Church has one foot out the proverbial door. Or perhaps I should say in the proverbial door: After these things I looked and saw a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, like a trumpet speaking with me, was one saying, "Come up here, and I will show you the things which must happen after this." (Revelation 4:1 / emphasis added).

Watch. The sun is going down on the Church Age, and we need to get those last few bales of hay into the barn before darkness falls. I have come to realize over the last several years, however, that there is a growing number of people who have cultivated an increasingly warped view of what the word "watch" means in the biblical context. However, some have twisted the concept of watching to focus on setting dates for the Rapture, which goes against the biblical meaning.

The point is this: A small date-setting, date-seeking, date-sensationalizing cadre has tried to twist the word "watch" into something that doesn't square with the Word. What's worse, it is negatively influencing some believers by luring them away from what Scripture says and thus weakening their walk with the Lord and their witness to the world. The Greek word for watch, "Gregoreo," implies being cautious, active, and alert spiritually and externally. From Thayer's Greek Lexicon: Metaphorically, to watch i.e. give strict attention to, be cautious, active: — to take heed lest through remissness and indolence some destructive calamity suddenly overtake one (Matt. 24:42; 25:13; Mark 12:35; Rev. 16:15); or lest one be led to forsake Christ (Matt. 25:41; Mark 14:38); or lest one fall into sin (1 Thess. 5:6; 1 Cor. 16:13; 1 Peter 5:8; Rev. 3:2); or be corrupted by errors (Acts 20:31). (emphasis in original)— Bible Hub. The word gregoreo is used 23 times in the New Testament, 14 times by Jesus in the Gospels and nine times by other New Testament writers.

In how many of those passages of Scripture were we admonished to try to pin down the date of the Rapture? How many of those passages made it clear that we have a responsibility to do our utmost to use every means at our disposal to determine or calculate the exact day of the catching away of the Bride?
NONE.

When the New Testament tells us to watch, there's a clearly implied cycle of activity:

1. Watch internally/spiritually.
First and foremost, we watch our spiritual lives. We remain alert to our spiritual condition and take heed to avoid temptation and sin. We strive to walk circumspectly before the Lord at all times, and lovingly exhort other believers to do the same.

2. Watch externally/physically.
Second, we remain watchful in regard to the fulfillment of prophecy and to the signs of the times. We are vigilant in observing and studying the signs that God is revealing, and in so doing cultivate a growing awareness of the fact that the Rapture and other end-time events are drawing near. Not only that, but we seek to impart that awareness to other believers through whatever means the Lord provides. We also seek to warn those around us that prophecies are being fulfilled that are telling us loud and clear that time is indeed running out and that today is the day of salvation. 3. Watch internally/spiritually even harder. Third, we allow our growing sense of awareness of the nearness of the Rapture and other end-time events to motivate us to watch our spiritual lives even more vigilantly and invest even more time and effort in our walk with the Lord, because we are the ones who have been confronted with the stark reality that the Church's time on earth is growing precariously short.

Rinse and repeat. If you are doing the things I just said, you are watching.

https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2018/1804-watch.htm?
(Excerpts from a Teaching by Greg Lauer).