Be Light—Be Sober—Be Self-Controlled—Be Awake People of God
“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief;
for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;
so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.
For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night.
But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.
Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”
(1 Thessalonians 5: 4-11)
Most people I know are not fighters but are instead just common civilians. Those I rub elbows with day-by-day are not trained soldiers but people who get up, go to work, give a good day’s work, go home, hug their families, go to bed, rest, and then get up to live the next day. In fact, most people may not understand the workings of a majority of the military armament if it were suddenly placed into their hands, and that’s okay. They don’t have to know how the battle will be won BECAUSE They Know WHO Fights The BATTLE.
“But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.
The LORD [Himself] will fight for you while you keep silent [& stay calm].”
(Exodus 14:13-14)
It is a truth! God sends and then God equips those who He sends. One of the most well-known people who ever lived is a sweet, caring woman known by the name of Mother Teresa. God sent her to India to care for those living there, to pray with them and for them, to meet their needs as she could, and to teach them about the love of God. It is Mother Teresa who said these words—
“There’s nothing more calming in difficult moments than knowing there’s someone fighting with you.”
Throughout the Bible, we see time and again—evidence—written on the pages the scenes where God instructed the people exactly how to fight. In fact, there are instances when God told them to come to the mountaintop, to look over into the valley, and to watch. The battle belongs to God. There are times when God gave instructions on how the people were to surround a city a certain number of times and gave them specific details about what to do as they marched the seventh time around the city they were to defeat.
Commoners. Not Soldiers.
Farmers & Not Fighters.
Scholars of The Word & not Soldiers.
Prayer Warriors.
Witnesses of God’s Battle.
Proclaimers of the Word of God.
Regular Folk. People of Faith. People just like you and me.
God calls us, the people of Almighty God, to Be Light—to Be Sober—to Be Self-Controlled—to Be Awake!
God’s “marching orders” are really not so difficult.
God tells us (just as He led Moses to tell the children of Israel).
“Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
and to keep the LORD’S commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?
Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it.”
(Deuteronomy 10: 12-14)
Today, I find myself asking these questions:
- Where is God sending His children?
- What task has He given our hands to do?
- Are we obedient; Are we obeying His every command?
- Do we follow God with all of our heart, soul, and mind?
- Do we trust God? Fully?
- Are we resting in the calm only God can provide?
- Are we asleep, not watchful, in slumber rather than wakefulness?
- Are we living as sons and daughter of light?
- Are we walking as the child of God as those “of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation”?
- Are we the child of God who strives to “encourage one another and build up one another”?
Let us BE the people of GOD!
Let us Be Light—Be Sober—Be Self-Controlled—& Be Awake!
Jesus Himself explains why.
“Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.
It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert.
Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—In case he should come suddenly and find you asleep.
What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’ ”
(Mark 13: 33-36)