I remember hearing my own father wake me with that familiar and oh so loving call, “rise and shine”. He would call, throwing back the covers or tenderly kissing my cheek. “It’s time to get up! Put on your clothes, get ready”!
Consider this call to wake up from Romans 13:11-14.
“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand”.
“Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy”.
“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts”.
This is a similar call, from the Spirit through the writer, although with so much more urgency. It is a call of love compelling us to action. Why? Because the day is approaching. Can you sense it? Do you see the light approaching?
Christian friend, the Lord is not far off. His coming is soon! Are you ready?
I am concerned, the dark lies of sin are lingering nearby. “We know”, says the apostle John, “that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1Jo 5:19). It’s true! It is as if the walking dead, those dead in sin, are immobilizing against any and all that have any moral fiber or conviction. There is no rhyme or reason to all that is daily happening. This is a deceiver at work. Beware!
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” ( 1 Peter 5:8).
Wake up! Cast off the works of darkness. Don’t be consumed with them, influenced by them or fearful of them! Walk properly, soberly. Think clearly – don’t be crude or offensive but peaceful and content. In other words – be different from all around you.
Put on the armor of light, that which repels the darkness around us. Put on Christ. If I am wearing the Lord Jesus Christ, I am fully fit for His arrival.
How do I “put on Christ”? As Rom 13:14 says, “Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill it’s lusts”.
God has done everything possible for us to victoriously walk away from sinful desire by giving us His living Word and His Holy Spirit. Let them be your guide today. Say “Yes Lord”, and wake today with a new attitude. The day is dawning. The Lord is coming soon!