Jump Start # 1368

1 Thessalonians 5:8 “But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

We conclude our week long look at “who we are,” from Heaven’s perspective. The actor, Kirk Douglass, in his autobiography, “Son of the ragman,” tells the story of driving along a San Diego highway after WWII. He was already a famous actor. A sailor was hitchhiking, so Douglass picked him up. As they rode together, the sailor kept looking at Douglass. It finally came to him, who the famous actor was. He blurted out, “Hey, do you know who you are?” The same could be said of us, “Hey, do you know who you are?” We are from God. We are light. We are the world’s Bible. We are made in His image. Today, we are of the day. These lessons are important because sometimes we feel like we are not important and that we are not doing anything worthwhile. When we realize how God views us and how much He loves us, it helps us to see our value and to understand the great trust God has in us. He places His word and His kingdom in our hands.

In our passage today, Paul is making contrasts between “day time people” and “night time people.” This has nothing to do with the time on the clock, but everything to do with the condition of the heart. The day of the Lord will catch the “night time” people unprepared. It will end their little joy ride through life.  Night time people sleep—not literally but spiritually. They are clueless to what is going on and what they are doing to their own hearts and soul. Night time people get drunk at night—again, not literally, but spiritually. They are oblivious to what God says. They do what they want, mostly harming themselves.

Paul identifies portions of a soldiers armor. We are familiar with the Ephesian description, but it is also found here as well. Only two pieces are listed here, the breastplate and the helmet. Nothing is said about the sword in this section.

We are of the day. We are sober. We are armed and protected. We are ready. That’s the thoughts found here. Like the five wise virgins who had plenty of oil, when the groom came, they were ready to enter the wedding feast. Readiness. Alertness. Day time. That’s us. Peter would tell us to be sober and alert because Satan, like a lion, is seeking someone, anyone, to devour.

Sober and alert means we have our spiritual radar on and our senses are trained to discern good and evil. Some things seem innocent, but they are wolves hiding under the disguise of a sheep. The alert Christian, the sober Christian sees that. Some fruit is poison for the soul. The sober and alert Christian sees that.

So, not every religious book is helpful. Some are full of poison. Not every blog tells the truth. Not every movie is worth going to. Not every TV should be watched. Discernment. Carefulness. Some things are harmful to my soul. If your kids had a friend over, and during dinner, this friend started using bad language and even cussing now and then, you’d tell him to stop it. After the dinner was over, if this friend, pulled out a pack of cigarettes and started smoking on your couch, you’d firmly tell him to stop. If he talked lewd and suggestive around your daughter, you’d tell him to leave. Any godly parent would do that. However, if that friend happened to be the TV, we allow the entire family to sit around and hear inappropriate language, habits that we do not agree with, and suggestive thoughts, while we laugh our way through the show. It’s only TV we say. However, we wouldn’t allow that behavior in person. Be alert. Be sober. Be of the day. Influences affect us. Putting our guard down will make us weak and vulnerable.

Sober. Don’t let your guard down because it’s a family member. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cousin, uncle, brother, or parent. Negative attitudes, saying false things about God and His church, exploiting the thrills of sin—too often we put up with those things because it’s family. It’s the family reunion but those moments can nearly ruin us. It’s family coming to stay for a few days. We feel compelled to let them watch the raunchy shows that we’d never watch, because they are family. We may feel pressured to skip church services, because family is in town. Instead of pulling them closer to the Lord, their presence pulls us farther from the Lord. Why do we do this? Be sober. Be of the day. Invite your family to come with you to services. Don’t allow them to drop bad words. Don’t let them trash the Lord you love with their wrong opinions. You are of the day. Some how we can stand up to the guy at work or the stranger in the store, but when it’s family, we cower in fear. Don’t be that way. You are of the day.

Family discussions about the Bible, over the Bible and with the Bible can be very profitable, helpful and even lead to changes. “I’ve always had a question about that,” can be answered in a Biblical way.

You are I are traveling through lion country. We must be careful. Just last week, an American tourist in Africa, were traveling through a lion park was killed. They ignored the signs about keeping their windows up. They didn’t. A lion attacked and a woman was killed. That’s not the first time that happened. It happens every day. We ignore the warnings from Heaven and Satan, the lion, attacks and wounds our soul. It didn’t have to happen. Keep your windows up was the sign from Africa. The sign from Heaven is be sober, be of the day, put on your armor. Instead of doing that, some of us want to pet the lion. Some of us want to get out of the car and stand beside the lion. Some of us will be shocked to see how our families are destroyed because of the lion. He is not something to be taken lightly. It doesn’t take him long to cause severe damage.

Have you noticed that most bad stuff happens at night. Most crime takes place at night. Most bars are dark. You drive by a bar and it’s not bright like a Wal-Mart. It’s dark. Dark places. Dark thoughts. Dark activity. Not us. We are day time people. We are in the light like Jesus.

Be sober. Be daytime. Be ready. That’s who we are.

Roger