Wake up and start living

Ephesians 5:14 “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”

Wake up and start living is a great message that needs to be shouted from the rooftops. We should be excited and stirred up because we are children of God. It is a privilege and honor to be a member of the body of Christ. I love the words of 1 John 3:1, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” God has made a tremendous commitment to you and I in that he gave his son to die for us (John 3:16). Jesus made the ultimate commitment in that while we were sinners, he died for us (Rom. 5:8). We need to be serious about the commitment we have made to him. Away with lukewarmness and indifference (1 Cor. 16:13, Rev. 3:15-16). Oh, that we all would live for Jesus giving him all that we have, after all, he gave himself that we might have life and have it more abundantly (2 Cor. 8:1-5, Mk. 12:30, John 10:10).

 Hear Paul as he says, “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”—Rom. 13:11. We need to ever be aware of and keep in mind every waking moment that with each step we take we draw a little closer to that time in which we will be ushered out into eternity to face our God and give an account of how we have lived (2 Cor. 5:10).

Those who are choked with the cares of this world are merely existing and need to wake up (Luke 8:14). The Prodigal Son of Luke 15 went into the far country and thought he was really living but he wound up in a pig pen. The word of God  often falls on deaf ears because the cares of this world take precedence in the lives of individuals. Often times there is little or no concern for spiritual things as individuals pursue material possessions or seek to satisfy fleshly appetites for pleasure or approval of their friends (1 Tim. 6:7-11, 1 John 2:15-17, Matt. 6:19-21, 1 Peter 4:2-7).

 All who are outside Christ are dead and need to come alive. I love Isaiah 55:3. “Incline your ear and come unto me: hear me and your soul shall live.” If you really want to live, hear him, believe him, confess him, repent of sin, be baptized for remission of sin, live faithfully for and with him. Throw away all the old crutches, the feeble excuses and start living. Let his word live in your heart, direct your mind and mold your thoughts (Col. 3:16, Phil. 4:8).

Stop worrying, fretting and being anxious (Phil. 4:6, John 14:1), put away fear (Heb. 13:5-6), do away with bitterness, murmuring and complaining (Eph. 4:31-32), count your many blessings; thank God for what he has done for you. Stop looking at the thorns of life, look at the roses, believe that you can do all things through Christ and really, really start living.

Charles Hicks