This is What God Says is Urgent
This word jumped off the page today. I circled it in my Bible and then went back and re-read the passage with this word in mind: URGENT. Something that is urgent must be dealt with immediately; it cannot be put off without major negative consequences. So, with that in mind, this is the passage I was reading today:
‘Owe nothing to anyone- except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, ‘You must not commit adultery. You must not commit murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.’ These-and other such commandments-are summed up in this one commandment: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law. This is all the more urgent for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer 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 13:8-12.
We are told that if we belong to Jesus, we will live differently than we used to live. I know this is true for me. There was a time that I lived my life completely for myself. It seems funny now (as in sad) to me to be saying that out loud, but it’s the truth. We are told what the deeds of darkness look like in verse 13: wild parties, drunkenness, sexual promiscuity, immoral living, quarreling, and jealousy. When my world fell apart more than 10 years ago, I felt hopeless and that life didn’t really matter. Looking back, I am now able to see the lies of the Enemy, but then I was completely unaware that I was under attack. The reason for this is that I wasn’t prepared, but I could have been! I used to walk with God, but when my life got hard, I put my Bible away. When we moved to this new house a few years ago, I found some Bibles of mine that were well-worn, written in, and I was surprised at how much about God I had forgotten. I took it for granted that I could never fall away from God. But that’s exactly how the Enemy got me. I was sure I would never do certain things. But I was relying on my own strength, not God’s. Andthat’s a sure way to fail.
So, when things got hard in my life, I blamed God. And I wasted some years of my life being miserable because of my choices. Not someone else’s: mine. So, one day, as a last resort, I opened my Bible and started reading it. I started in the book of John and the first thing I noticed was that Jesus turned water into wine, and He did it for His mom. That got me interested and I wanted to know more about Him. I was hungry for something different. I already knew the world wasn’t making me happy! And as I read, I fell more in love with Jesus. He is real, He loves me, and He is transforming my life. And the best part: I get to spend forever with Him. So now, when I read His word and He tells me how to live, I trust Him that His way is better than mine. Here’s what I noticed in this passage:
- It’s urgent that we show each other love all the time. And why? Because the world is watching us and Jesus is coming back soon. We don’t have time to hold on to offenses against each other. We need to forgive and ask for forgiveness quickly. Otherwise, we will find ourselves becoming bitter people who are unable to show love to anyone.
- Deeds of darkness in our lives keep us separated from God and keep others from seeing Him. Is there anything in your life that comes to mind? For me there was! I was involved in something that I knew was wrong butjustified it in my mind. God’s word tells us that we act like His commands apply to other people but not to us. The most freeing day I can remember is the day I stopped lying to myself and started believing what I was reading in His Word.
- Deeds of darkness need to be removed like dirty clothes. This might seem obvious, but here’s the important part. When we remove dirty clothes, we wash them and they aren’t dirty anymore! So, we need to remove them and put on new clothes. In the moment it seems hard, but it leads to peace.
- Put on the shining armor of right living. Have you ever noticed how you feel when you are living a ‘right life’? Maybe you’ve never struggled with a big sin like I have, but when I turned from that sin and surrounded myself with people who forgave me and encouraged me in my walk with God, I found peace that I had been missing for years. Anyone can ‘walk in on me’ and I will be happy to see you. Having no secret sins is where freedom is found. And your life will become a light to others. The joy is hard to miss.
- Clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does that even mean? It seemed a little abstract to me until this happened: I was waking up in the night filled with anxiety, several nights in a row. Then, my 7-year-old granddaughter, completely unaware of this, wrote me a note. And I asked her where she found this verse…did someone show it to her? No, she found it in her Bible coloring book. It was Isaiah 43:5. ‘Do not be afraid for I am with you.’ And then she wrote this note on the back: ‘Dear Pandma (that’s what they call me) God is whith you allways so think of Him allways. we love you from V’. And it hit me: yes, I know He is with me, but I forget to think of Him when I am struggling. She showed me that if we really believe that God is with us, then we will dwell on that thought. And the more my thoughts are on Him, the more joy I have. And that’s something worth hanging on to. So let’s wake up and put on our shining armor for all the world to see.
What is God showing you today? What do you need to do to live with urgency?