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This is Nugget #8, one of a series to follow, submitted by yours truly...Tina. Please pray that God will give inspiration and revelation to all contributors, using them to His glory and for the edifying of every reader.
Nugget #8: Background Passage: Romans 13:11-14 Focal Passage: Romans13:11
11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
It is time for the church to wake up out of sleep!!!!!! This letter was not to the world, but to the church, and is so appropriate for today’s church. Truly, we have been in a state of sleep, not considering the time. The church is in a state of “spiritual drowsiness.” The fervor, the fire, the lamp has begun to dim, and in some cases has gone out. Everything is acceptable to the church now; nothing is sin. The blessings of God are taught with great power and frequency, but not the judgment of God. No one wants to hear about or think about the wages of sin, only the gifts of God. So drowsy have we become until it is almost impossible to distinguish the church from the world. Instead of being a light and example to them, they have become OUR measuring stick. We walk like them, talk like them, dress like them, act like them, think like them. I often hear people likening a favorite gospel artist to a secular artist, and people consider this a compliment! Never do you hear a secular artist likened to a gospel artist (and in some ways, this at least is a good thing). But that is how it SHOULD be. Our light should shine so brightly that the world sees it and wants it, too. Even if they don’t have it yet, they ought to want to copy it. But they have no desire to because we are coveting THEM. Why? Because we have gotten so lazy and sleepy that we’d rather just go along with the norm than accept the responsibility and work that comes with being a beacon, an example, from being called out and separated for Jesus. Wake up! Open your eyes! See the time at hand! Though we don’t want to recognize it, we DO know the time. We simply are not prepared for it or for the work that it entails. No one knows the hour that Jesus shall return for His church. However, we can see the signs of the times and know that we’re living in a time of harvest, possibly the final harvest. The world is RIPE for Jesus- just look at all the psychics, witches, warlocks, and soothsayers becoming rich and famous. The New Age movement has grown in leaps and bounds and takes in billions of dollars each year! Their greatest supporters are the celebrities that our children look up to and admire as role models! People spend great amounts of money calling their 900 numbers, buying horoscope books, chart reading, star gazing, reading the tarot cards, consulting ouija boards….the list goes on. And guess what? Some come to the church searching as well. You see people hop from church to church, Sunday after Sunday, looking for Jesus. Sadly, many go back home with their quest being a failure. There are also those who have been in every prayer line, on every altar, have had every well-known minister they can think of lay hands on them, have given to every TV ministry....searching, some wanting the minister to do the work for them, go to God for them, and get a Word for them, but some truly trying to find God the only way that they know how. These people are searching for something that only the church can give, yet we’ve been so lazy and caught up in self that we are, just like the twelve, not even recognizing the harvest that is before us (Read John 4:25-39). Here, Paul says that NOW it is HIGH TIME to awake out of sleep. The time did not just arrive, but has been here for some time. This is a definite season to awake. Why? For our salvation is now nearer than ever! We’re too close to turn around or give up now! Every day brings us one day closer to our salvation, to the prize of the high calling. This is not the time to take a break on the side of the road. Recess is OVER! We have too much to gain and too much to lose to play Russian Roulette now; there aren’t many barrels left. We’ve played with God, played church, played holiness for so long, and the day of our salvation is getting closer and closer.
...to be continued in our next Bible Nugget....... |
