Note from Team LO: We are SO excited to bring you this month’s post from our LO sister member, Grace Novak! If you want to be a part of this incredible community, you can join today HERE! Hope to see you there, friend! 

Now, enjoy today’s post from Grace 🙂 

Dear those beloved by God (every one of you!),

“WAKE-UP O sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!” Ephesians 5:14.

I am taking a dual enrollment online class with Hillsdale college. I have been loving it. The only issue I have with this class is that it’s at ten AM Michigan time. In Michigan, this is great. In Arizona, this means that I have to wake up at 6 or 6:30 to get to class on time. Ultimately, I’ve grown to enjoy the peaceful morning solitude!

Last Monday, I set my alarm for 6:15 because I wanted to review class readings before the Zoom call. My alarm rang me out of a deep and pleasant slumber, and I turned the noise off. Instead of rolling out of bed and getting ready for the day, I thought, “just a few more minutes….” and drifted back off into dreamland. 

Who’s been there? I fell completely back asleep. Somehow, by the grace of God I guess or maybe because my subconscious is stronger than I realized, I jolted upright in a panic at literally 6:56. Before, I always thought that I needed at least 30 minutes to get ready for the day, but on Monday I learned that I can do it in 4 minutes when pressured. Somehow, I made it to class on time, but it was WAYYYYY closer of a call than I would have liked!

Now I know this story is not a big deal on any level. So why am I telling you this? Because of how relevant it is.

We live in a culture of gray area. Truth is subjective. Gender is subjective. Sexuality is subjective. Life is subjective. Literally everything is subjective. What even is truth? Matt Walsh’s “What is a Woman?” film became super popular last year because it’s strikingly relevant. How insane is it that you even have to ask “what is a woman?” While it can sometimes seem like this era of subjectivity is true in all areas of life, let me be the first to tell you that it is NOT. Unlike our world where the gray area is becoming the popular place to be, Scripture is extraordinarily black and white. There is NO MIDDLE GROUND.

I’ve always loved reading magazines. Sometimes they come with a little test in them that is supposed to tell you about your personality or something. They’re silly and fun. Every once in a while, there will be a list of opposite things where you’re supposed to circle the one that is “more you.” For example, it’ll say “peanut butter vs. jelly” or “coffee vs. tea” or “spring vs. fall” with all these cute little illustrations. Then I’ll go through and circle “peanut butter,” “tea,” and “fall.” It’s actually pretty entertaining 🙂 This little checklist also works with the opposites that Scripture highlights. I’ll list them out. The Bible makes it clear that we can only be one of the two (NOT BOTH), so which one are we?

ARE YOU….

LIGHT or DARKNESS John 3:19-22; John 8:12

WISE or FOOLISH Ephesians 5:15-17; Proverbs 14:15-25

OF GOD or OF THE WORLD Romans 12:2; 1 John 2:15-17

RIGHTEOUS or WICKED Psalm 36:16; Psalm 37:13-22

SAVED or CONDEMNED Mark 16:16; John 3:18

AWAKE or ASLEEP Ephesians 5:14; Luke 21:36; Romans 13:11

In the Gospels, Jesus begins to call His followers. He meets people and simply says, “follow me.” Some do, and some don’t. It’s very black and white. Quite simple. Yet there are a few who echo the gray area that is so common today. In Luke 9:59-62, we see two examples.

These two men aren’t evil. They are genuinely trying to serve God. They are like so many Christians today who want to follow God, but don’t give Him their all. Occasionally Scripture is more vague and left up to our interpretation, but this is not one of those instances. Jesus is extremely clear when He tells those men that it’s all or nothing. There is no room for “partial Christianity.” Jesus makes it quite definitive; it’s all or nothing. Which will we pick?

In many places of Scripture, Jesus points out those who are “awake” and those who are “asleep.” Those who are awake are those who know the truth. Their eyes are opened and they jump out of slumber to follow Christ. Those who are asleep are those who don’t. They are stuck in dreamland, and don’t get up to follow Christ. Which one are you? Are you awake and committed to all-in Christianity or are you still asleep? I am going to go through some examples below, which one are you? Which one is your family member? Your friend? I’ll be asking myself the same things.

So many of us are drifting back to sleep. Christianity doesn’t seem pressing, so we say “just a few more minutes….” and drift back into the slumbering shadows. Maybe we were following Him, but we’ve gotten distracted by all these other things along the way.

Some of us just can’t decide what to do. We wake up a little, but then don’t get out of bed. This is something my little brother will do sometimes. My mom will wake him up, but instead of getting out of bed, he’ll just lay there for a few minutes awake, but too tired to work up the motivation to get out of bed. Have you been awakened to the truth but are hesitant to jump out of bed and dive fully into true Christianity?

Some of us are just out cold, dreaming good dreams. We have zero motivation to ever wake up because our dreamland is so nice and perfect. Who needs to get out of bed and into real Christianity when we’re enjoying sweet dreams? Who needs Christianity when our lives are “perfect” without Christ. One day though, we will be awakened and it will be a shocking dose of end times reality.

Some of us are living a nightmare right now. We cannot imagine how it could get any worse. You know how nightmares can be crazy. The plot is building and building and maybe something’s chasing you or you’re drowning or you’re falling, and then right as you’re about to get to the worst part in your nightmare, you jolt upright. You wake up in a sheer panic, heart racing. This is reality for some of us. God doesn’t create evil, but sometimes He allows us to live in these nightmares because nothing else will wake us up. He loves us too much to let us stay asleep.

Then there are those of us who do what I do with my alarm clock. We set like five staggering alarms ten minutes apart to wake up. It goes off, we wake up, then we fall back asleep until the next one and continuously repeat the cycle. How many times are we going to wake up to the truth and then later reject it and go back to the darkness. This is the “children of Israel” way of life. They followed God, and then they didn’t, and then they did again, and then they didn’t.

Maybe you’re completely up and out of bed, just trying to shake other people to wake up! You are totally committed to Christianity, and spending your life trying to get others to see the truth before it’s too late. This is so important, and can also be exhausting at times, but so so fulfilling. You’ve found that the real world can be both harder and easier in ways than dreamland, but you live with an undying hope that is unique to those who are awake.

You are not going to live this life forever. I hate to be so blunt and gloomy, but it’s true. You are either going to die or Jesus will come. When that happens, you will finally wake up for good. What will Jesus find when you meet Him? Will He find you asleep in darkness or awake in truth? I urge you to really think about this. You are either one or the other. You’re all in, or you’re all out. This is an eternity decision. There is NOTHING more important than it. NOTHING. This is THE most important decision you will ever make. So many people think that hell is a punishment and heaven is a reward. This is not true. Heaven and hell are a choice. An educated choice. Just like Jesus gave those men a choice back in Luke chapter 9, He gives you this choice today. Are you going to follow Him or turn back? Are you choosing God or the world? Are you in or out? Are you choosing heaven or hell?

With love and hope,

Grace

P.S.

Life is not all gloom and doom! Yes this is a huge decision, but it comes with good news! When you wake up, your world will change forever.

Dreaming is good, living is better!

Think about when you watch a good movie. Maybe it’s a nice romance or an inspiring true story. Either way, it speaks to a little piece of your heart. Then think about the difference you feel when you actually experience that for yourself! It’s an astronomical difference! When you get the chance to live your own romance or to be a hero in real life, it is amazing. Watching a movie can’t capture even a quarter of the real life feeling. This is what it’s like when you wake up.

When you decide to follow Jesus totally, (when you go all in) your life will get better in an incomparable way. Things will still be hard, but there is this indescribable richness and depth and hope and love and joy and peace. It’s hard to explain. How does the person who’s lived the romance or adventure explain the feeling to someone who’s only seen the movie? How do those who have woken up explain the feeling to those who are still asleep?

If you are awake, let’s help try to wake others up. Let’s live the Great Commission and show them what they’re missing!

If you’re still asleep, trust me, you should wake up and dive into this new life. Go all in. It’s the best thing you’ll ever do.

Find more content from Grace at travelandfaith.com 🙂