Sleeping Through It
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
“Christian, are you sleeping?” Kay Arthur was applying the verses that tell about Jonah being fast asleep in the inner part of the ship. He was oblivious to the fight for their lives the others were experiencing as he slept below.
One of the ways she applied this was to ask if we were asleep while abortions are being performed and while the country allows many unbiblical practices to become mainstream and acceptable? Divorce, pre-marital sex, homosexual marriages, foul language, mocking Christianity, the list goes on. How many of us are asleep, allowing this all to happen without a fight?
As Christians it seems that we have a way of giving up our beliefs in what is clearly spelled out as right or wrong in the Bible while still saying that we believe God’s Word is inerrant. We are trying to blend into the culture rather than be separate from it, which is what the scripture demands of us. 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 say, ”Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
Being separate does not mean being absent. It means that we won’t always look like the rest of the world or talk like them. It means that we will stand firm for the Truths of the Bible in the face of opposition. We will do the right thing when others encourage us to do the wrong thing. We will even say the hard things when it would be easier to remain silent.
Many Christian are compromising biblical values so they won’t stand out as different or radical in their workplaces or their community boards. They would rather be sleeping Christians than courageous Christians.
We have all heard stories (whether true or not) about the co-worker, the neighbor, or the friend, who claims Christianity but does not live it. All Christians get mocked because of the hypocrites in our midst. Are you or I “that person” the world mocks?
Are we asleep below deck while the world, by mocking Christians, mocks the Lord above it? Are we worshiping the God of the universe on Sunday but living as a part of the world the rest of the week?
Jesus makes it clear that if we will not stand firm for Him then He will not stand firm for us at judgment. Luke 9:26, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
Christians, what is God calling you and me to be strong and courageous about? What does He want us to wake up to do for Him? The storm is upon us.