Letter to the Church in Sardis – Wake Up!
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“I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God” (Rev 3:1, 2).
When our lives progress at a steady pace, with no great difficulties, it is easy to become complacent. We can slide into a “cruise control” mentality. What will it take to jar our thinking and make us pay attention to the direction our lives are taking?
Maybe that was the situation the church of Sardis found itself in when John received the revelation from Jesus about it. (Revelation 3:1-6) They had become careless in their spiritual lives. They were inattentive to the voice of the Holy Spirit, oblivious to the true condition of their hearts. They were coasting. This letter was their wake up call.
They were challenged to remember what they had been taught, to obey it and to repent. Jesus Christ is going to return. We can not afford to become negligent in our faith or slack in our service to God. Jesus’ own words are recorded by Mark, “Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come” (Mark 13:33). Like Sardis, we are called to wake up.
Each of the letters to the churches is ended in the same way: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29, 3:6, 13 & 22). Let us not be found guilty of not listening to what God is trying to say to us.
O God, forgive my laziness and my carelessness in following you. Make me faithful and diligent, I do not want to be found sleeping when You return. Amen
Questions: What lulls us into inattentiveness? What causes us to wake up?
About the Author Suzanne Benner
Inattentiveness applies to every aspect of life. It’s so easy to get side-tracked. The ‘lulling’ is even easier. Satan see’s an opening in our thinking and slips in. All of a sudden a day or a week or a month has gone by and we realize that ‘self-absortion’ has had an over-ride on our spiritual learning. The discipline that was is no more.
Speaking personally, when I see a total stranger with a look of ‘lonliness’ in their eyes, I realize that perhaps my Father may have that same look right now and that neglecting Him was not my intent. That is my wake-up call to right a wrong.
thank you
I am a long-time follower of this daily devotional. I wanted to post my new website.
http://www.pennypointstoponder.com The Lord is doing amazing things in me and I just wanted to share.
This was perfect for me this morning! Last night as I was going to bed, I felt guilty about my life. I was thinking that I was not doing a good job even though I accomplished a lot yesterday. Then I realized that my time with the Lord was missing. So I asked the Lord to wake me up and He did! He woke me up 3 different time within 20 min at exactly the time I wanted to be up.
Then I read this devotional. Suzanne, I really appreciate that you spoke the truth in your devotional. Thank you so much!
I want Him to strengthen what remains and to prune me.