LEARNING DAILY

Romans 13:11-14, 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. That 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. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

It is necessary to follow up with the last page of the blog to understand how each Believer can be ready as they watch and wait for the time Jesus takes them to be with Him in the clouds and into eternity with Him. “Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” Believers must “cast off the works of darkness”. Paul writes this again in Ephesians 5:11; what does he mean by the “unfruitful works of the darkness”? Paul states these works are not fruitful, they are of no use, not beneficial; they end in death. Let me list the things he is talking about. Greed, sexual immorality, any kind of impurity, obscenity, foolish talk, coarse joking, and idolatry will not be allowed in the kingdom of God (Ephesians 5:3-5). Add to this what Paul wrote above, “Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.”

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1, “How can light live with darkness? Cleanse yourself of all unrighteousness!” How? “Put on the armor of light”. John wrote in 1 John 1:7, “But if we walk in the light as he is the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” Paul wrote, “That night is far spent, the day is at hand.” In the spiritual sense this is symbolic of the moment Jesus defeated death at the resurrection (BibRef.com). There is still sin in this broken world, but that time is coming to an end. Think of it in this way. You ask Jesus into your life to save you and change you, but you find out that you still struggle with sin. You even discover you might want to continue in some of the old sinful ways. To use Paul’s thoughts about the coming day, Believers must prepare for the battle of putting off these sinful ways by “putting on the armor of light” (read Ephesians 6:10-17 about the Armor of God). Believers are now taking a defensive stance against the forces of spiritual darkness.

Believers no longer belong to the night; they no longer fit in with those who follow the darkness and no longer want to do those things done in the darkness. Instead, Believers “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts”. “Putting on the Lord Jesus” means our goal each day is to walk the narrow way, living the way Jesus desires we live – in faith and in obedience. To do that each believer must decide for themselves to no longer make provision to satisfy and indulge themselves with the things they once did when they walked in darkness. Don’t plan to sin; don’t give yourself any opportunity to fail. When Christ comes to live in our hearts, we ought to be really uncomfortable about even considering anything that would grieve Him. That includes putting anything or anyone above Him.

Many in the Bible have prophetically said the end of times is near. Many since then have said the same thing. Mockers have always been around. It seems to me when Biblical writers said the end is near, we must be near the end of the end times. Consider the signs we have been given in God’s Word; they have all happened, nothing is left to happen for Jesus to come for His Believers, His Church. Be alert. Be living the way He wants. Be walking the narrow way, looking for His return. Put on “the armor of light” today and walk with Jesus. Today might be the day!