ON THE VANGUARD

GET UP, SLEEPER!
“But everything exposed to the light is revealed clearly for what it is, since anything revealed is a light. This is why it says, ‘Get up, sleeper! Arise from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you!’”
Ephesians 5:13-14

A few days back I was walking from the living room to the kitchen and saw something strange down moving the hall. This being a new apartment still, I wasn’t really sure what it was. The lights were out in the house with the exception of the flickering from the TV and a nightlight in the hall for the kids. But in looking down the hall, for a brief moment, I was perplexed. The moving object looked like that of a snake. Since I couldn’t make out exactly what it was, and didn’t want to get too close in case it was something dangerous, I turned the hall light on. To my relief, sticking out from the laundry area and moving around in snake like fashion, was my cat’s tail. I feel embarrassed telling you this story, but in that moment when it was almost completely dark, her tail really had me fooled.
Isn’t it funny how in the dark things appear different than in the light? Having children, I have had to battle my share of shadows. Waking up to the calling of my name from down the hall, I have run in a few times and turned on the light in order to show the child that what they saw was nothing more than a piece of clothing or box or such. Once the light is turned on, though, the item is seen for what it really is. This is what Paul is saying in Ephesians 5:13 when he states that everything exposed to the light is seen clearly for what it really is. The ‘monster’ is not a monster at all, but rather a figment of what we perceive in the dark. When the blindness or ignorance is made known with the turning on of the light, revelation is had.
As we began to understand yesterday, the exposure of the things in the dark to the light takes the power away from the dark. Exposing the deeds of the enemy in the light of God takes the power away from the enemy, weakening the grip he had on us while in the dark. To restate what I shared yesterday, by conviction we are to bring to the light the deeds done in darkness. The darkness works to envelope and entrap the deeds of sin, but the light works to shine on the darkness and shadows and make it difficult for sin to hind any longer.
So then, it is time to get up. As long as we stay in the dark we stay under the enemy’s power. It is time to turn the light on in the hall, so to say, and see the snake-like moving item for what it really is. Awake! Awake you who are dead in sleep. Awake you who are yielding in sloth and sin. Turn on the light, expose the enemy and take back your rightful position! Hear the alarm that is blaring in your ear; hear the rooster sounding the call of the sun rising. Stand up, roll out of bed and get back to business. To say it bluntly, open your eyes!
For too long the enemy has overpowered God’s people. Oh I know, you are too smart to have been overtaken. But the enemy is sly and he comes in in inches and steals from us in miles. He comes in and little by little robs us until, hopefully, our eyes are open to see the house is empty. Before it gets to this point, GET UP! Before he has a chance to steal one more knick-knack from your shelf, GET UP! Before he can take one more coin, one more item from your fridge, or one more piece of your soul, GET UP! Arise and let God’s light flood the house and expose the devil for the junk pile he is.
Do you want to know how to walk in God’s ways and do as Jesus would do? Then turn the light on. Expose the secrets, live out loud, and seek Him in every area. Invite Him into every nook and cranny of your life to the point that you glow, and where darkness no longer can hide.