"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair........." so commences the book "A Tale of Two Cities"by Charles Dickens.

With every passing day, it seems that the battle lines are being drawn and increasingly, as Christians, we are being faced with choices which not only affect our own lives, but those of our families, and the wider communities in which we live and beyond that, the nation and nations.

If Dickens was writing today, would he not say the same about our world and society, which brings us back to the passage in Isaiah in my previous blog:
Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:1-3

It is not a time for us to be having a spiritual slumber party.We need to take a clear stand for the Lord in our lives, even if it goes against popular society attitudes that are clearly in opposition to the non-negotiable teaching of the Word of God in the Bible.

The Apostle Paul states in Ephesians 5: For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord...........(my emphasis)
Therefore, He says: "Awake, you who sleep,
                                     Arise from the dead,
                                     And Christ will give you light".(Verses 8-10,14)          

I am always deeply challenged by the words of the song "Asleep in the Light" written by Keith Green, where he says in one of the verses The world is sleeping in the dark
                                           That the church just can't fight
                                            'Cause it's asleep in the light.
                                             How can you be so dead
                                             When you've been so well fed?
                                             Jesus rose from the grave,
                                             And you, you can't even get out of bed. OUCH!!!!(My comment)

Jesus said of Himself in John 8:12... I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.
He also said of His disciples, then and now, in Matthew 5:14  You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

We are admonished by Paul to redeem the time because the days are evil. Eph.5:16
He again pleads with those who claim to be followers of Jesus in Romans 13:

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. 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 armour of light. Rom 13:11,12

A fairly recent Christian song expressing some of the above thoughts is "We Are" by Kari Jobe, which, if you have not heard it, can be heard on You Tube. Google the song and take a listen. Incidentally, Kari Jobe will be one of the featured guest singers at this year's Hillsong Conference in Sydney.

Can we hear the anguished heart cries of Isaiah, Paul the Apostle, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself to each one of us in the Church to ARISE, to SHINE THE LIGHT, TO AWAKE FROM SPIRITUAL SLUMBER.....and in so doing to help bring an eternal difference to individuals, to communities, and to nations as we glorify Him with our lives.

To be continued................................