TIME TO WAKE UP
Romans 13:11-14 NKJV
11 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. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
Paul is in the practical application side of his letter to the believers in Rome. This follows the pattern of most of Paul's letters to the churches - theological truth followed by practical application. It is: here is what you are now; so here is what you do. In chapter 13, Paul starts with instructions to obey the natural authorities. Follow the man-made laws, treat authority with respect, and pay your taxes. Paul then directs the believers into walking in love. And that loving your neighbor as yourself does no harm to your neighbor and keeps the Ten Commandments. In our verses for today, Paul issues a directive to wake up spiritually. He is admonishing the believers to throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Paul contrasts walking in the day versus walking at night. The implication being that things done in the night are the works of darkness, but we are the people of the day. Interesting to note that, even today, most unscrupulous activity takes place at night.
And, in the event that the Roman believers were debating about what activities they needed to abandon, Paul spells it out for them in verse 13. Let us walk properly or decently as in the day. Paul handles these instructions with a genuine measure of humility. In these verses, he avoids using the word "you" and instead uses phrases such as "let us," "we," and "our." Paul most likely walked in a high degree of dedication to the Lord and lived an upright life before God. But he also recognized that we all have been saved by God's grace from the darkness we once lived in. So his instructions included himself.
Paul spells out that the activities of darkness included revelry and drunkenness. The word revelry is also translated as carousing. It would include some of the actions surrounding the pagan festivals, which were extremely rowdy. Other activities common to the old life of darkness were sexual promiscuity and sensuality. Also, strife and jealousy were not considered proper for someone who had become a new creation in Christ.
Paul concludes this chapter by encouraging the believers to put on the Lord Jesus. Another way of saying that is to be clothed with the Lord Jesus. This would be a consciousness of being connected to Him. And not only connected but representing Him in the earth. Also, make no provision for the flesh. The word provision is taken from the word foresight or forethought. This implies not thinking about how to gratify the flesh - the list from verse 13. Being conscious of the connection to the Lord and not thinking about how to fulfill the desires of the flesh is a good foundation for a spiritually woke life.
APPLICATION
I use the phrase spiritually woke cautiously. So much has been said about our woke culture, but the scriptures addressed the issue long before culture adopted the phrase. To awake out of sleep and live differently is totally accurate from a biblical perspective. But being spiritually awake steers us away from sin and into Christ-like behavior.
As a church, may God help us wake up and live in a way that honors Him.