Spiritually Woke

                                              When The Door Slams

"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."                                                                      Luke 21:34-36 NIV                                                                                                       

            When God...gives us glimpses of the future--it is to enable us to serve Him better not only in the future but by making smarter choices today. Do we have the right to dismiss such signs of the times, their potential for today and implications for tomorrow? Is it a Christian virtue to ignore God's handwriting on the wall? 

            The signs we need to perceive are not vague predictions about the future--many are present realities. The trouble is that they occur so gradually that we often do not notice them. It's like the familiar story of the frog and the kettle of water. Place a frog in boiling water and it will jump out immediately because it can tell it's in a hostile environment. But place a frog in a kettle of room-temperature water and it will stay there, content with those surroundings. 

            Slowly, very slowly, increase the temperature of the water. This time, the frog doesn't  leap out, but just stays there, unaware that the environment is changing. Continue to turn up the burner until the water is boiling. Our poor frog will be boiled, too--quite content, perhaps, but nevertheless dead. 

            Think about this: The Christian community in America might be expected to be more spiritually woke of current changes in the environment than the frog in the kettle. Yet, for the past three decades, at least, the Church has been generally insensitive to the changes. We have continued to operate as though our environment has remained the same. Like the frog, we are faced with the very real possibility of dying because of our unresponsiveness to the changing world around us. 

Petition: Hear my cry, O God, And listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to You When my heart grows faint; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. You have been a shelter for me And a strong tower against the enemy. I will dwell in Your tent forever And take refuge in the shelter of Your wings (Psalm 61:1-4). 

Renewal: May I rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for me in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).      

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.                     

                                          Never Rest Ministries