Today's Devotional

August 26, 2005

Subject:  Wake Up!!!

Ephesians 5:13 - 14 "But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."

So my daughters were quite excited about being in the after-school programs at the new elementary school.  The programs started this week.  Tuesday, when Caylah got home, she had to tell me all about her cheerleading and dance class.  She belted out one cheer where she exclaimed, using the school colors, how she had to "rock with the white and roll with the maroon."  That was all fine except for the "roll with the maroon" move that accompanied the chant.   When I saw the move, I immediately let her know that it was an improper move for anyone to be doing and that I expected that she would have let them know that it was improper.  I then proceeded to write a letter to the school principal.  The principal called me back quite promptly on yesterday and said that she received the letter.  She talked to the teacher who taught the dance move and asked the teacher to show her the move.  The principal stated that she too disagreed with the gyrating/grinding hip move of the 9 year-olds.  In the end, the principal said that the teacher acknowledged that she should change the move.   The teacher stated that she got the move from the junior high squad, as though that made it better.  

The question I keep asking myself is, "did any other parents see those moves or have they seen those moves in the past and simply let them go unchallenged?"  How could you see your child do such things and not rise up in disgust?  The answer is that many Christians as well as non-Christians are sleeping.  I see it every day in the high schools now.  Children often come to school with little to no clothes on and they're getting out of their parents car to do it.  Remember the days when kids had to wait until they got to school to change their clothes?  Well nowadays they come straight from home that way.  Everyone is asleep at the job, parents, educators, neighbors, friends, relatives and everyone else feel powerless to stop their actions.  We are all sleeping.

The passage above says that  light exposes the true character of everything.  Therefore, our light should expose darkness.  That doesn't mean that we have to do anything in particular, but because of who we are we should shed light on darkness.  The ways of this world are steeped in darkness and like Caylah in the morning, she would prefer to sleep than to have the light come on to wake her up.  However, as believers, when we are given the option we should prefer to be awakened by the light of Christ because we've been sleep long enough.  Wake Up!!!

Carlen