Watch this video.
Does this look like your routine in the morning?
Was anything missing from this morning routine?
Do you think you live an average, uneventful life?
Do you think that is God's plan for your life?
Read 1 Peter 5:8.
Our enemies are not just physical ones like terrorists, but spiritual ones. Our adversary is the devil. Peter tells us to to be alert, to watch out.
Read John 10:10.
This verse tells us that the theif kills, steals, and destroys. The best time for a thief to do any of these things is when their prey is asleep. How awake are you? Wake up! There is an enemy! He is on the prowl for unsuspecting believers who are asleep in their faith. To be spiritually asleep is:
- to not know Christ as our Savior. We are asleep -- warm and comfortable in our sin.
- to say we know God but when it's time to pray or read the Bible we hit the snooze button.
- to see needs in our world, yet drag the blankets over our heads and pretend that those needs are not there
Although Jesus was facing a great trial, He managed to teach His disciples another lesson in those dark hours:
- Jesus taught them to stay awake with Him. When you were a kid, did you try to stay awake on New Year's Eve to see the New Year come in? Did you fall asleep and miss the excitement? God is working in our world, and He does not want us to miss any of it.
- Jesus taught them to stay awake and watch for temptation. James 1:14 shoes that we can mess up just from our human desire. Jesus wants us to stay awake and watch for those things that pull us off course.
- Read Mark 13:32-37.
- The world is in a mess. Why? And what is God going to do about it? Jesus wants us to represent Him as His ambassadors.
Jesus said that He would return to establish His Kingdom. Will you be spiritually awake when He returns or snuggled up hoping He won't knock on your door? Jesus went so far as to say, in reference to the parable of the persistent widow and the wicked judge: "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" God is looking for our persistence in a world of laziness. Will He find our faith alive or asleep when He returns?
Closing Prayer:
The enemy I won't let catch me sleeping is ...
Lord, if I am sleeping I'm afraid I'll miss ...
Jesus, when you return I want you to find me ...
Finish with an Our Father and Hail Mary.
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