MY FRIENDS, ARE WE SLEEPING?

Oct. 4, 2016

MY FRIENDS, ARE WE SLEEPING?

“But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore, He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.” Walk in Wisdom See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Eph. 5:13-17 (NKJV) Awake you who sleep for the harvest is living “as those who have no hope.”

Awake and take the good news of the gospel to the Ninevites of the 21st century. God tells Jonah to go, cry out against; Nineveh for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah arose and escaped to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” Jonah 1:3 (NKJV) First of all, Jonah was sleep when God called him. My friends, are we sleeping through our responsibility to go out and serve God.

And then Jonah runs in the opposite direction from where God has told him to Go. Oh the mercy and grace of God that still strives with each of us as we turn our back on Him and His will for our life. Like Jonah, God is doing everything to get us into His kingdom and we are doing everything to stay as far away from life eternal as we can.

We know the story, Jonah ends up on a boat to anywhere besides where God wants him to go. A storm Starts while Jonah is on board. The storm begins to rage out of control which tells us God is still trying to get Jonah’s attention. And once again Jonah is sleeping. My friends, this narrative must become personal; we must become Jonah. “The captain finds Jonah below and cries out like the world cries to us. (v,6) “What do you mean, sleeper?

Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” My friends, the world parishes as we sleep, do we hear their cries. On Deck, they cast lots to see “on whose account this calamity has struck them.” And of course it falls on Jonah, they question Jonah. who are you? And so He witnesses to the crew about the Alpha and Omega.

In other words he took the church to the community. Oh the grace and mercy of God to get His message to a dying world that is tossed and turned in the trials and tribulations of a world marred in sin by the god of this world. Jonah tells the captain to toss Him overboard and their troubles will be over. Now, the captain and his crew journey with God begins once they threw Jonah overboard.

(v, 16) “Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.” My friends this devotional is not about Jonah today. But about our inactive response to Gods pleading to enter our heart so that we can begin to die to self while allowing our life to be transformed into the character and image of the one who has given it all for our salvation.

The disciples were sleep when they should have been praying for strength before Christ crucifixion. Jonah was sleep When His mandate was to go witness to the lost souls of Nineveh. The Ten virgins were all sleep but only five had enough oil to endure to the end. What about you and I, are we sleep, and do we “understand the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” Rom 13:11(NIV)