Have you ever been caught sleeping when you were supposed to awake? Maybe it was at work and you were just exhausted, so you took a little nap only to be caught by the boss. Maybe it was in class and you just couldn’t stand the lecture so you took a little snooze. Or maybe the preacher just droned on and on, and the late night football game kept you up a little later than normal.
Whatever the reason getting caught sleeping when you’re supposed to be awake can be embarrassing to say the least and down right dangerous at worst! Imagine what would happen if this occurred when you were driving!
This week we looked at 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 where Paul tells the followers of Jesus in that region to stay awake. I don’t believe the issue was really one of sleeping on a bed but sleeping in their faith. You see when we’re really comfortable it’s easy to drift off into a relaxed condition and even fall asleep. The believers in Paul’s letter were comfortable in their faith. They were cozied up to the warmth of tradition and just wanted to hang out there.
The issue must have been that they wanted to rest in the process of learning more. They wanted another class, book, speaker, lecture on specific issues to the point that they weren’t ready to be followers of Jesus. They just wanted to learn about following Jesus.
This is a tremendous issue facing the church in America today. We have a tendency to want to learn at the expense of living our faith. Learning is great and is a necessity, but there comes a time when we need to put what we know into action. There’s a time when another class is just a stalling mechanism. There’s a time to learn, but there also is a time to live!
The bible tells us that faith is only real and living faith when it’s lived out. That means when we just want to learn about faith without living it, our faith is in a sense – useless! Paul reiterates that same point here to the Jesus followers in his letter to the Thessalonians. They wanted another lecture on the return of Jesus, but Paul tells them they already know everything they need to know. It’s time to act on it. It’s time to live for eternity today!
This past week I had the privilege to share this message with the congregation I serve at Living Word in Galena. Before I concluded the message I challenged them to take what they know about Jesus and share it with one person. You see we often get caught up wanting more information on how to share our faith, looking for another class. But I believe we already know everything we need to know. A good friend of mine put it this way, how much do you need to know to share the Jesus that you know?
So will you join me in doing? Will you admit that you know enough about Jesus to share the Jesus you know? Will you find one person where you live, work, or play and take a moment to start a simple conversation? Will you invite just one person from where you live, work, or play to join you as you worship the Jesus you know? Will you take a moment to have a simple conversation and invite someone to join you in worshipping Jesus and then a friendly lunch?
Just think, if we all did this, how many people would be impacted by a simple moment of action. Learning is great but living is essential. Let’s live for eternity today!
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