Read Romans 13:8-14

“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)

I love how the New Living Translation captures this urgency: “This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”

Notice Paul’s twofold command: 1) Know the time, and 2) Wake up!

Have you ever overslept and missed an important appointment? Wouldn't it be wonderful if time could pause so you could catch up on your rest? But, in the real world, time waits for no one. While you sleep, the sun rises and the day unfolds, and it’s careless to your slumber. When you finally awaken, you find that the day has slipped away, and your appointment has been missed! It’s a sinking feeling.

I fear that many Christians are similarly slumbering in their faith, simply unaware of the time. They fail to recognize that the light has dawned — that it is truly high time! — and the illumination they should be embracing shines brightly while they remain in a state of unconsciousness.

Beloved, are you aware of the time?

Remember the Pharisees whom Jesus rebuked for their blindness to the truth right before their eyes? They were asleep!

Hypocrites! You know how to discern the weather by the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times!” (Matthew 16:3)

How tragic it is for a Christian to live without discerning the time! But it's when we realize the time that we can fulfill Paul's second command to wake up!

“Awake to righteousness…” (1 Corinthians 15:34)

When the alarm rings, we leap from our beds! Similarly, Church, we must heed the alarms sounding in our world today. Observe the alarming unity in the pursuit of evil and the hatred for good. Witness how the world is hastening toward its end! The signs are everywhere! We are spiraling out of control on a global scale! The alarm is as deafening as a thunderclap. We must awaken and live in the light that Christ has shone upon our hearts through the Gospel!

Beloved, are you awake, or are you still sleeping? Are you conscious of the time, or are you sleeping past the alarm?

“Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”” (Ephesians 5:14)