Twin City church of Christ Blog
“Sept 6, 2024 - Time to Wake Up”
Categories: 2024 Reading DevotionalsTime to Wake Up
Reading: Romans 13:8-14
Having urged the Romans to pay the governor all that he is owed, Paul teaches them more broadly to “owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law”(Rom 13:8). Love is an obligation that is never fully paid off. We never check a box, dust off our hands, and decide that we have loved enough. “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law”(Rom 13:10). Rather than enumerating all the things we should not do to our neighbor, love teaches us how to fulfill God’s intent by always doing good.
But it is time that gives Paul’s words urgency. “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. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light”(Rom 13:11-12). It is time to wake up! We are closer to the end than we have ever been. Night is the time for sleep, but the day is dawning. Paul argues both that God’s purposes for the end of the world are unfolding and that we should put away actions that are characteristic of evil and darkness. “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy”(Rom 13:13). The time has come for us to address spiritual problems, put sin behind us, and prepare for what God has in store for us next.
Sometimes Christians become lax in their service. We allow sin to have a foothold in our lives. We put off making major changes that we know are needed, assuming that we’ll always have tomorrow. We lose our zeal. We get tired. We need a wake-up call. It’s time to wake up! “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
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One Thing to Think About: In what areas of my spiritual life do I need to wake up? What changes do I need?
One Thing to Pray For: A renewed passion for God’s things
