IT IS TIME TO WAKE UP
03rd Jun 2020
Romans 13:11-14 in The Message says, “But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!”
Paul writes some very practical advice as to how Christians are to live in today’s society. In Romans 13 he addresses the responsibility of citizenship, our response to those in authority, debt, immorality and love in action. For me, the focus of the Holy Spirit is to wake up to what God is doing.
It’s time for those who are Christians to wake up. Would you change your lifestyle if you thought Jesus was coming tomorrow? Would you testify clearly to those you love who do not know Jesus, and without saving faith are truly lost to eternity? Would you change your priorities? Have the pressures of life, busyness etc., robbed you of your first love for Jesus?
These are questions we all need to ponder. I believe that God in His mercy, by His Spirit is waking up His body to see what He is doing in the nations. I personally want to be alert, ready for action, waiting, listening for specific instructions, on my tip-toes, equipped for action.
Are you earnestly desiring spiritual gifts, pursuing them because you want all the spiritual equipment God is willing to give you? Are you spending time praying, interceding for those Jesus saw as lost confused sheep? Do you ever weep for them? Jesus was motivated by compassion - are you?
There is sleep that is ‘natural’, but in Gethsemane, when Jesus desperately needed His friends to be alert and fully supportive - they slept! I don’t think this was natural sleep, rather an attack of the enemy to add to the agony and isolation of Jesus.
For a long time the body of Christ has been slumbering, pleasure seeking, focussed on self, while the enemy has been very much on the offensive. It is time to wake up - to get serious about the Kingdom of God, to fulfil the Great Commission and be ready for the King’s return.
Many years ago I had a series of prophetic dreams; in one of them I was standing on a cliff top looking out to sea. In the distance I saw a tsunami wave building up and about to engulf the people on the beach. I ran to warn the people, shouting ‘wake up’, but they took little notice. I recognised many of the people, just enjoying themselves, oblivious to the danger.
I saw the wave break and the confusion and panic that ensued, many running for safety. The wave kept coming and above the beach I saw many sick people, lots of wheelchairs with folk who had been unable to sit on the beach. I felt their panic, knowing they were helpless, I found myself calling to people I knew to pray and heal them, and then I woke up. For some the wave was a wake up call, for others the wave brought a touch of God and healing miracles.
It is time for us to be fully awake, alert and ready for action, as the Holy Spirit directs.
by Joyce Sibthorpe
