sober – thoughtful, serious, restrained, temperate, moderate, clear-headed

Are you too drunk on the things of this world?  Do the intoxicating pleasures of the flesh ooze from your pores?  Maybe it’s not touching your finger to your nose, but I’m sure God has tested you with “walking a straight line” recently.  He often allows heat and pressure (i.e., circumstances, storms, trials, tribulations, etc.) to bring us into conformity with the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).  It’s time for the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ to sober up!

Has God challenged you to give up something (or someone, or some place) and your flesh “kicked” like an addict searching for a fix?  Identify the root cause of your resistance and ask your Creator (the One Who wrote the Owner’s Manual – the Holy Bible) to help you overcome it.  It’s better to get it right while you have time.  Can you pass the test God appoints for you – not necessarily the one you’ve been studying for?  You can’t omit or overlook basic principles because you’re working on something advanced; you must build on the solid foundation of the Word of God that’s already been laid – and don’t regress.

We don’t want any holes in our armor as we go out to battle the enemy.  Don’t make yourself an easy target because of disobedience and unwillingness to release sin and worldy habits.  It’s not worth holding onto that which could destroy you; it could be a matter of life and death – I know what I’m talking about.

“15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
(I John 2:15-17)

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”
(I Peter 5:8)

“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
(Romans 12:3)

“But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.”
(I Thessalonians 5:8)

 © Copyright 2013 by Kayren J. Cathcart