You women who are complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say! In little more than a year, you who feel secure will tremble; the grape harvest will fail, and the harvest of fruit will not come. Isaiah 32: 9-10
If anything showed me that I was living complacently, it was the shakeup that 2020 provided. When the doors of the company I worked, for closed I was out of a job for an indefinite amount of time. I never realized how much we relied on the government for our ability to work. Governing officials decided to shut businesses down, and companies had to comply. In a blink of an eye, everything normal was gone. The routine of work, eating, sleeping, and repeating suddenly changed.
Not knowing what mandate will come next with no foreseeable change to our future, we live a bit more aware. People are more aware of having gas in their cars, toilet paper in their homes, and extra food in their pantries because of the last few years.
We now know that at any moment, our lives can change. Today, many are losing their jobs for standing up for what they believe, and many children are suddenly becoming homeschooled for the same reason. Some have died from this sickness, many people have overcome it, and fear has reigned. Two years ago, no one would’ve guessed this would be our new normal.
Not Fully Awake
Although the last almost two years have opened our eyes to how quickly our normal can change, we are still living complacently. Even after what we have been through over the last few years, we still do not live as if Jesus could come back any day. Although the opening verse is part of a prophecy about the desolation of Judea by the Chaldeans, we can still apply it to the coming of Jesus.
We have gotten so secure in this world that we are not living awake to the signs of the times, which tell us that we are in stages of birth pains. Only God knows when the labor will begin; therefore, we must live ready and watch for the signs. Mark 13:36 states If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. It is time to rise from our complacency and live fully awake. What does this mean exactly?
It is Time to Live Perfect
Matthew 5:48 tells us to live perfectly, as Christ lived perfectly, which means to live holy and blameless. We need to get serious about sin. If the Bible says it is a sin, we need to recognize it as such and turn away. We do not get the benefit of living however we wish. The world is watching us and what they are seeing is a church that blends in. A Church that acts almost the same as they do. We watch the same shows, say the same words, dress the same way, live the same way, and fear the same things. These sins may seem small, but they will hinder our witness.
A good question to ask ourselves is this: If someone judged Christianity and Jesus off my life, would it be a good reflection? Would Jesus participate in the same activities as you? Would he watch the shows you watch? Say the words you say? Wear the clothes you wear? If the answer is no, then it’s time for a change. We must go back to holding our actions up against the standards of the Bible.
Perfect Only Through Christ
If you feel a bit attacked, at this point in your reading, let me say that I’m not judging you, friend. This truth applies to me as much as it does to you. I wish I could answer that every non-Christian around me has only seen Christ-like behavior from me, but I can’t. They have seen my sins, and that truly bothers me. I wish I had been more careful to protect my witness.
Now the word perfect may throw you off here because none of us will ever be perfect, not in our flesh anyways, but in our spirits, we are 100% perfect(because it is the Christ living in us). We have to learn to crucify our flesh to have the ability to live in our spirit. This fact does not mean; however, we will never sin; we will. Because as Jesus states in Matthew, our spirit is willing, but our flesh is weak. So how do we not live in the flesh?
Renew Your Mind
Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)
The word renew means to restore to freshness to make new. When we renew our minds, we exchange the old sinful thoughts for thoughts from God. A way we can do this is by reading the Bible. When we fill our minds with God’s words, meditate on them, and believe them, then that is what is going to flow from us.
However, we can counterbalance this by filling our minds with ungodly things, which is why we need to be careful with what we watch, what we listen to, and who we take counsel. Have you ever noticed that when you spend a lot of time with a person, you start to take on their phrases? I used to work with a manager who would always say something, or someone was precious; I never used the word before until I started working with her. But after five years of working closely with her, I began to say it along with other phrases she used. My speech reflected her because her words were the ones I heard the most.
The same goes for God’s word. When we fill our minds with His words and spend the most time with Him instead of the world, His vocabulary will become our vocabulary. And His thoughts will become our thoughts.
Live Ready
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away (Matthew 24:37-39).
The people in Noah’s time became complacent with life. They went about their lives as if nothing destructive was coming, But they were wrong. Since they allowed evil to consume them, their hearts were too hard to hear the truth about the coming flood. The day the flood began started like any other day and ended in destruction for all people except one obedient family.
When the day of Jesus’ coming arrives, it will seem like any other day but will be the end of life as we know it. When this day comes, it will be a happy day for some and a horror for others. It is time for the church to live awake. We know that Jesus is coming back yet, we live just as unholy as the non-Christians. How are we to impact change if we look identical to the problem?
Are We Really Ready?
I have seen reels on Instagram and posts from Christians about being ready for Jesus to come back but are we? Is the church spiritually strong enough to live through the days of agony before he takes us out of here? We will live through hard days before his arrival. They are going to be terrible beyond our imagination. Are those you love ready for the end? Although Jesus coming back is a wonderful thing for us, let’s forget the destruction it will also bring. It is time for the church to live awake; to live holy; and to show the world the hope of glory, which is Christ in us.
*****Please note that some links in this post are affiliate links. I will receive a small commission, with no extra cost to you, if item is purchased through links.
I love using willow tree figurines in my posts. Today’s post features the Willow Tree of Learning, which holds a book clutched to her chest. Today I used it to represent renewing our minds by studying the Bible.
You can pick up your Willow Tree today at FaithfulChristianStore.com. Link Below.
Pam says
Thank you so much for this amazing reminder. As children of God, we should always stay alert for the coming of Jesus Christ.
carrie says
Glad it was a helpful reminder for you! Thanks for reading!
Pastor Natalie says
So much has changed with this pandemic and continues to change. You are right, we really do not know when our Lord Jesus will return and it is important that we be more intentional and mindful to this. He can return at any moment for His bride(the church.) The important question… will He (Jesus) find faith when He returns?Lord, take us deeper and teach us to purposely keep our eyes on Jesus. Wonderful post. Jesus the true meaning of CHRISTmas!
Pastor Natalie
Letstakeamoment.com
carrie says
All so true! Thanks for reading!
Doug Johnson says
Hi Carrie I finally found your blog. You write extremely well. Very fluid very on topic, I will pass it on to some people, enjoy Being in the word via your great writing
carrie says
Glad you found it and thank you for your kind words! It is 100% the Holy Spirit writing through me.. not my own talent. Hope you enjoy my posts and thank you for sharing!