Wake up

Revelation 3:³ Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

Jesus is speaking through John to the church of Sardis. He tells the church that they are truly dead although they appear to be alive. The counsel that He gives is for them to remember what they had received, which is the gospel, and they must keep it through repentance. It's as if they slipped into a death like slumber which renders them useless to God. If we are not on God's side, fighting evil with Him, then we are against Him and He will come against us because we are no longer of Him anymore.

I can speak from personal experience about being dead while seeming alive. I feel like this past week, I was dead and not repenting to come back to life. If it wasn't for my husband and the Holy Spirit interceding for my salvation, then I wouldn't have emerged from this dark place. I knew the gospel, but I chose not to repent. I chose not to listen to the truth. I chose to slumber in this death-like state. When Hanzo and I really got into it and he discovered that I was choosing to sin, he was filled with righteous zeal and said that he would actively be against me. Although we could brush that statement off as if he was just angry, I think it was what I really needed to hear. I was no longer on God's side so of course, God would be against me as well as my husband. I needed to repent and come back to God's side. To not do so, would be to stay in sin and await God's punishment, which could come at any moment. There was much grace, Jesus didn't come back while I was choosing to be in sin. But He could have, and boy, there would have went all that I had worked for. All because I was forgetting who Jesus is and what He did and focusing on myself and my issues. I must never fail at this test again. I always took pride in my hard work ethic in my studies and performing arts. If I made a mistake or failed a test or quiz, I'd put in extra effort to make sure that I would do better the next time. A next time will come. It says that the devil goes away and waits for another opportunity. I need to put extra effort into making sure that I always remember who Jesus is and keep repentant. Like driving on a long highway, I need to keep awake. To fall asleep at the wheel is dangerous. Thank God that I had my husband in the car with me to shake me out of it.

Heavenly Father, I am so sorry for choosing to sin. I know that I grieved You and that I need to come back to You with my whole heart. Please forgive me. I know that You already have, but I pray that I would remember that I have received Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and not let my emotions rule over me again. Please make me more dependant upon You. Keep me close, Lord. I love You. Change me. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.