Wake up! Get dressed!

Romans 13:11,12 and 14

11 Besides this you know what [a critical] hour this is, how it is high time now for you to wake up out of your sleep (rouse to reality). For salvation (final deliverance) is nearer to us now than when we first believed (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Christ, the Messiah).

12 The night is far gone and the day is almost here. Let us then drop (fling away) the works and deeds of darkness and put on the [full] armor of light.

14 But clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and make no provision for [indulging] the flesh [put a stop to thinking about the evil cravings of your physical nature] to [gratify its] desires (lusts).

Ephesians 5:14

14 Therefore He says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you and give you light.

Revelation 3:1-2

I know your record and what you are doing; you are supposed to be alive, but [in reality] you are dead.  
2 Rouse yourselves and keep awake, and strengthen and invigorate what remains and is on the point of dying; for I have not found a thing that you have done [any work of yours] meeting the requirements of My God or perfect in His sight.

Many years ago my parents had a very unique experience at our home.  My father used to host a Bible study group once a week and a neighbour started attending the Bible study.  One morning early her husband just about hammered down our front door, looking for my father.  He wanted to know what kind of  'power' my father was worshipping in this house, because he used astral travelling to visit our house while his wife was attending the Bible study, and according to him there was a light around our house and no matter what he did, he could not find a place to come in!  This verse in Romans has become one of those life-verses for me.  There was an armour of light around our house that night - and the word says we can be dressed in that armour of Light.  Who is the Light?  It is Christ Himself, thus just a few verses later Paul reminds us that we need to get dressed in Christ and not be spiritually asleep.    

In scripture there is a spiritual state described as being 'asleep' and the Holy Spirit calls us to wake up in no uncertain terms.  He calls us awake and encourages us to get rid of the works and deeds of darkness and corruption - not giving any place to it - not even in our thoughts.  He admonishes us to not make any provision for indulging in the flesh or gratify its desires in any way.  In our culture today, that very much lives by the notion that we have the right to do whatever pleases us, yes whatever pleases the flesh - it is an increasingly fierce battle to not feed the flesh but to be intentional about feeding the spirit with God-ordained thoughts and actions.  Paul admonishes us to get into the opposite spirit by dressing ourselves in the Armour of Light, and since Christ is The Light it also means that we clothe ourselves with Christ.  This is the clothes of the Bride of Christ - Christ the Messiah, our Armour of Light!

Point to ponder:

Let us ask the Holy Spirit this week to reveal to us the state of our spirit.  Are we in a spiritual sleep?  In which areas do we feed the flesh instead of the spirit?

Let us ask him to raise us from the dead and from this spiritual sleep we are in.  Ask him to give us His Light and dress us in Christ and His Armour of Light.  

Armour of Light - Park Church Music - Album 'The autumn chapter"