December 1
Adam Herndon, Minister to Families
I love waking up from a good night of rest, pouring some coffee, and spending a little time with Jesus in the morning before beginning my day. That is my favorite way to begin my day. One of the worst feelings in the world is when you have overslept. You know that feeling you get in your stomach when you realize you are running late, or you have missed an important meeting. When that happens, you spring out of bed in a panic, throw on whatever, hopefully get your hair in a presentable state, and try to slip into the meeting or classroom bringing as little attention to yourself as possible. Yet it seems everyone in the room or class knows you are late and probably overslept.
In our text in Romans 13, Paul exhorts us to, “Wake Up”, in verse 11. During Advent we are reminded that we are a waiting people. We are waiting for Jesus to return in his second coming and for God to make all things new. We have no idea when God’s alarm clock will go off and he will send Jesus to come back to remove the sin and brokenness of our world and give us our renewed, resurrected bodies. When you have been waiting for what feels like a long time it is easy to get sleepy or bored, or in this case spiritually sleepy or bored. When that happens, we stop fully giving our lives to Jesus and loving like Jesus loved, or as Paul said it, “to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” When Jesus returns, I want to be awake with my coffee, wearing his clothes, and ready for him. I do not want be awoken with that feeling in my stomach that I have overslept. This Advent season do you need to spiritually wake up? Have you grown sleepy in your faith? What does it look like in your life “to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh (vs. 14)?