Romans 13:11: Besides This You Know The Time, That The Hour Has Come For You To Wake From Sleep.

Romans 13:11
[11] 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. (ESV)

Time is a funny thing. The older one becomes the more you become aware of just how quickly time has gone by. Here we are, approximately 2000 years past the time that the Apostle Paul wrote these words. If the hour had come for people to wake from sleep in Paul's day, how much more so for those of us who are reading this now.

What Paul is saying concerning "waking from sleep" is very important for us as believers. There is a tendency that we have to not be properly motivated to work as we should for the Kingdom of God. Paul David Tripp wrote in a devotional once that we are like practical atheists. We claim to belong to God. We believe the right things. Yet, we are not doing the things God wants for us to do.

The time is short. We need a spiritual alarm clock to help us awake from our slumber. Eric Clapton once wrote a song called "No Tears In Heaven." I take issue with that premise. Scripture says that God will wipe away our tears. What tears will he be wiping away in heaven? I believe that the primary tears that he will wipe away are tears of regret. We will be saddened by all we did not do.

When Paul talks about the salvation being nearer to us now than when we first believed he is talking about the final completion of our salvation. We are certainly saved now, but we are limited in how we experience that salvation. We look forward to seeing Jesus face to face. We look forward to no longer having to battle temptation. We anticipate a body with no pain or imperfections.

Wake up! Ask God to show you how he would like you to use your time. You will be in heaven soon enough. May that be the motivation you need to do the work your Savior asks you to do.

Comments

Romans 8:18: For I Consider That The Sufferings Of This Present Time Are Not Worth Comparing

Romans 8:18 [18] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (ESV) Perspective. What an important word. Let's be honest. We do not like the idea of suffering. We will do almost anything to avoid any kind of suffering. Some churches have gone so far as to preach against the idea of suffering, declaring it to not be a part of the true believer's life. Paul is not shy about the topic. Paul uses the sufferings of this present time as a means to consider the greater glory that awaits us. Perspective. Paul is not in any way attempting to diminish our suffering. A view toward eternity puts our suffering in a proper understanding. Yes, our suffering is terrible. In the grand scheme of eternity it is not even worth comparison. Maybe you are thinking that Paul does not know what he is talking about when it comes to suffering. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul describes countless beatings, often near death,

Romans 15:20-21: And Thus I Make It My Ambition To Preach The Gospel, Not Where Christ Has Already Been Named

Romans 15:20–21 [20] and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, [21] but as it is written, “Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.” (ESV) We need to be reminded continually that the message of the Gospel is intended to move all across the world. Jesus said that his followers were to preach the Gospel, starting in Jerusalem, and continue preaching the Gospel to the whole world. Christians have not always been good at delivering the Gospel message as far and as often as they should. In the first century church it took intense persecution to motivate the disciples in Jerusalem to bring the Gospel to Judea and Samaria. Once the disciples fled to new regions they shared the Gospel wherever they went. Would the disciples have preached the Gospel without the persecution? We may never know. Some probably would have stayed in their co

James 2:18: I Will Show You My Faith By My Works

James 2:18 [18] But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (ESV) There are certain things in life that go together. Peanut butter and jelly. Double stuff Oreo cookies and milk. Faith and works. James raises the point that someone might argue that faith and works can be separated. "One will say, "You have faith and I have works." Is it ok for works to be separated from faith? James is making the argument that faith and works are not to be separated. James is saying to the one who has faith only, with no works, that he wants them to see his faith by his works. In other words, if you are going to claim to have faith, but have no works, you have no evidence of faith. If I am to believe that a person has genuine faith I can only see that by their works. Faith brings action. There are so many people to claim to have some kind of faith, yet when it comes down to it, their

Every Day Devotion

Search This Blog