ALERT AND SOBER

ALERT AND SOBER

I Thess. 5:5-6 For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don't belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be sober.  NLT

       Be on your guard; do not let Satan lull you to sleep. His tactics are varied, but one of his most effective methods today is to convince us that we must always stay busy. We are led to believe that we just don't have the time to spend with the Lord. For many of us, we pat ourselves on the back if we are able to spend 5-10 minutes of our day alone with Him. We are convinced that all we need is a quick "spiritual fix" and we will be just fine. We squeeze the Lord and His Word in whenever we can. We keep so busy that we scarcely even feel any guilt about it. In fact, we consider ourselves in pretty good shape because so many others don't even bother to feed themselves except maybe in church. Our busy lives squeeze out very little time needed to read, study, and meditate on God's Word. It is no longer deemed to be important enough to invest time and energy into. Even our pastors are becoming too busy. How can we expect to grow in the Lord when we don't even know what He says well enough to think about it and live it?

       How can we even think that we can constantly live in the darkness of the world without keeping our lamps burning brightly? Darkness swallows up a flickering light. There is very little value in a light that does not dispel darkness. A light that is not properly fueled soon goes out. The only way to see our way around in the darkness is to keep our lights shining brightly. We will stumble and fall over and over again if we don't.

      No one can keep your light lit for you but you. It is your responsibility to keep yourself connected to the Lord so that He can be seen in you. Only you can let Him shine through you.

       If you are struggling to keep your light lit, you need to rethink your priorities. There is no excuse for not keeping your light shining brightly. You have the time to invest in your spiritual growth; it's your decision what you do with it.

        What you do with your time now will certainly impact what you will be doing with your eternal life.  Diligently and purposely keep your light shining brightly and you will never have to be anxious when the Lord may come.