Time to wake up

And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. – Romans 13.11

One of the saddest things about the church having society on our side is that we have been lulled to sleep by 'flowery beds of ease' for the last three hundred years or so. Speaking for those of us in the west we have enjoyed governments who, if not on our side, at least have been friendly and accepting to us. We have had laws that support the Biblical stance on marriage, abortion, and many other issues. Many countries have even given our churches tax breaks in some form or another. In reality they have made being a Christian pretty easy.

But it doesn’t take much looking to realise that things are changing. Christian standards, morals, and ethics, which once were the foundation of our western societies, are being eroded as laws change to accept things contrary to the Christian lifestyle. The word of God is no longer sufficient basis for laws for all of society.

Many are decrying these changes. Many are bemoaning the death of civilization as we know it. Many are convinced that society is going to collapse. 

I don’t necessarily accept that a society needs our Christian morals to survive. It may not be the world that we have known, but society will carry on until Jesus comes back. We may not recognise it. We may not like it. The day may come when our way of life is not only not protected by law, it may even become against the law.

I keep up with politics in both Washington and Dublin. In both places laws are changing even as I type these words that are going to change the fabric of both countries to make them less in accord with the word of God.

So what do we do? Do we riot and rebel and revolt? Do we still try to force a lost world to live by our standards?

Or do we realise that maybe it is time to wake up out of our sleep. Maybe some of this is happening to remind us that this world is not our home. Maybe we need to wake up and realise that we live in a world that is trapped in sin. Maybe it’s a good thing that we have to stop trusting the government to support and protect us and realise that that is God’s job. Maybe we need to stop relying on Dublin or London or Brussels or Washington or wherever and wake up to the truth the only one we can rely on is our Lord.  

Our final salvation is nearer now than it was when we first believed. Things are changing. Maybe it’s time to wake up and realise that the battle is not to elect certain parties or pass certain laws. Maybe it is time to wake up and realise that the battle is for the souls of men.