WAKE UP CALL

“Just shut up! Just shut up!” that used to be the words of my roommate while in school whenever her alarm clock rings in the morning. She hated the sound of it so much that she always wake up angry, yet, she never stop setting it so as not to oversleep. So many of us too hate the sound of our alarm/reminder on our phones when it goes on and on trying to wake us or remind us of what we are to do. To some of us, the incessant annoying sound of the alarm make us to wake up, while the sound make some other to click “quit” and go back to sleep. Ironically, we set those reminder/alarm so we can meet up with appointments or wake up early so why become angry when the alarm goes on?

Different things I guess, such as more time or sleep or simply tired. Our attitude to our alarm/reminder can be likened to our attitude to the grace and help that God has given us for the fulfillment of his purpose in our lives. See, on our destiny journey, we already have clear cut purposes on what to do with our lives (such as our work in his house, career, and so on ) and we pray God to keep us on track and  give us the grace to fulfill them. God answers and sends his grace and help to us in different ways and we begin to do well in his purpose including other areas of our lives. Gradually, gradually, time seems not to be enough for us to keep doing God’s work and meeting the demands of being in school/working, we get distracted and we begin to major on the minor.

Having prayed for grace at the outset God continues to bestow his grace by reminding us of what are supposed to be doing through the books we read, the messages we listen to, the groups we belong to, and some other things in our environment. God ‘s grace can be likened to the alarm clock that continues to ring until we do shut it off. This grace serves as a our wake up call, reverberating in messages, sermons and in our inner minds prompting us from time to wake up to our duty. But these days what do we do with the help and grace we prayed for? We either ignore it of shut it off like the alarm clock. Again, this article is another wake up call to the duties we have neglected. What has God committed into your hands that you no longer have time for, what is that responsibility that God has put over you that you are gradually shutting out of your schedule, he is saying to you today “Awake and support the rest which you are about to throw off! For I have not found your works fulfilled in his sight” (Rev.3:2 paraphrased)

Don’t throw the little strength in you off, don’t throw the grace and help you prayed for away, it is understandable that you are tired having to cope with the pressures of living in a world like ours, but God says No! not yet time to give up and rest for your works have not been fulfilled. What are those things you know you are supposed to be doing for God that you have stopped doing or about to give it all up, now is not the time to sleep but to keep awake and strengthen what you have.

Interestingly, God’s assurance is that once you wake up to this call, he will shine upon you and give you light to see the way in this dark world of ours (Eph 5:14) such that what has been difficult to achieve will become easy because there is light.

Finally, when Christ’s light has shone on you and he begins to do exploits through you, you are to walk carefully, by living purposefully, worthily and accurately not as the unwise but as sensible and intelligent. Just  as we know that it is the wise man who makes good use of his time by buying up every opportunity and not by wasting it on irrelevancies. It is also the wise man who is not thoughtless about the plans of God for his life by  comparing himself with others but trying daily to understand the will of God for his life before taking major decisions.

Above all, the word of God says things will be a lot easier for us in our time if we fill ourselves with the holy spirit and not only with wine, foods, and ideas of the world but making the holy spirit and God’s word the center of our lives.

This is our wake up call! let’s throw the weights pressing us down away and rise to the call so that God’s light can shine on us and make us the shining stars that we are.