I have been greatly influenced by a couple of verses in Romans as of late. I will start with the verse of my awakening.
"Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed." (13:11)
This is the time for me to come out of my spiritual dormancy, to clutch the robe of Christ with both hands and cry out for mercy. For I have been the worst of sinners, grieving the Spirit of God daily by refusing to humble myself and submit to Him. He is near,and if I do not seek His face now, what will I do when the powers of darkness rule? I have been blind to my own spiritual pride, but now the blinders have fallen like great scales from my eyes.
"The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light." (13:12)
What contrast there is here! The dark oppresses, disillusions, blinds, and alienates. Light, on the other hand, frees, reveals truth, offers sight, and shows us that we're not alone.
"Let us walk properly as in the day time, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires." (13:13&14)
We are to walk "as in the daytime"--not only when it's day. No, we walk when it's dark.
This is night--that orgies, sexual immorality, sensuality, quarreling, and jealousy are exalted daily on television, in movies, novels, magazines, and music. This is night--that no man can win a legal battle against anyone who practices sexual relations that are not natural. This is night--that thousands of people die daily because of the lust of the flesh. And this is night--that the name of God is spoken with mockery and disrespect. No, we must learn how to walk during the day so we may be able to do it at night, to the glory of God the Father.
As a Christian I am guilty of walking only when it's day, when I know I cannot fall. I think I am doing Christ a service when I walk at all, but where is the faith when I can rely fully on what my own senses are telling me at the moment? It's when I cannot see that walking brings glory to God's name.
And now I have a decision to make. Do I walk when I am confident that I can, or do I walk when my way is hidden from me? Do I resist God and provide for the flesh, or do I resist the flesh and provide for God? Now is the time to awake from this dream and become alert to the lessons of God.
In all of this I must remember that it's not people I am fighting, but It is "against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places". (Ephesians 6:12)
The battle is just beginning.
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