Wake up! // 14-06-22

“‘Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” Ephesians‬ ‭5:14-16‬ ‭NIV

I was reminded last week of a story I had heard about a Christian Iranian couple who managed to secure a visa to move to the USA. After a few months of living there the wife said to her husband, “We must go back to Iran. There is a satanic lullaby here and the church is falling asleep, and I’m starting to feel sleepy!” She was more willing to live with the threat of persecution and all the restrictions of an oppressive regime rather than the relative comfort of a liberal (free) society if it meant her faith in Jesus and her sense of mission stayed strong! The enemy is doing his utmost to dilute Christianity in the West, to compromise our message, and to weaken our witness. Anything to make us spiritually drowsy so that we don’t have the strength to fight him or see the urgent need for people to hear about Jesus anymore. How sleepy or awake are you feeling as a Christian right now? I sense God saying to me, ‘Wake up sleeper!’ Oh Lord, I’m praying today, help us to open our eyes, to get up, to make the most of every opportunity, alert to your voice with a renewed passion in our hearts to go and make You known! Amen 🙏🏼