Wake Up

Prayer – Lord, I don’t want to sleep through anything that You have to teach or show me. Fill me with Your love and hope that I would be alert and a dynamic Christian for You—even if I am just quietly working in the background. You need all Christians…whether they are bold or unobtrusive. We need to be alive and active—not apparently dead to the world.

Meditate. Are you alive or dead…or just sleeping?

 

Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: "I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don't wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief. Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine." Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Revelation 3:1-6

 

Tough words to grasp. God has requirements. Jesus said to the church at Sardis: I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Another church in this group of seven churches in Revelation, Ephesus, also was admonished for leaving their first love.

But I have this complaint against you. You don't love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don't repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. Revelation 2:4-5

Morning Glories in Israel.
Awake early each day.
Not complacent.

Jesus was warning the people of the church at Sardis to wake up. Look at how they loved Him at first…and now they don’t. We need to examine ourselves in that same light. Are we really as fervently committed to the Lord as we were when we first believed in Him as our Savior? It is so easy to become complacent, but Jesus will be rewarding those who are victorious—and overcome that contentment or self-righteous attitude. I am in that category of complacency. Its easy to sit back—especially during Covid and now post-Covid and just watch church or Bible studies on YouTube. No need to get involved with any group, but that is not what God wants.

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. Hebrews 10:25

Jesus describes Himself as one who has the seven-fold Spirit of God. Seven is perfection—so I think, as do other commentators—that He is expressing here the perfectness of the Holy Spirit. He us encouraging this church body, and us: Don’t be among the dead. Go back to your first love for Christ and others. Like the Jesus declared the two greatest commandments…Love God and love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:28-31). Love is the key…and that is a notable reminder that “God is love” from 1 John 4:8. Jesus admonishes the people of church at Sardis to repent and turn back to Him. That is true for everyone today, also. Turn back to Jesus, because after all, He is our first love.

We love each other because he loved us first. 1 John 4:19

The city of Sardis is about thirty-seven miles from Thyatira, the last city Jesus mentioned. It was a pagan city, which like other cities in this Asian region, had an influence on the early Christian church. Jesus simply wants His followers to be encouraged to follow Him. Wake up.

 

Verses of Salvation ~ This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don't participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don't let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires. Romans 13:11-14

 

© 2023 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved. 

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted. 

New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. 

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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