I say I love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, but do I really?
marriage by misrepresenting the Bride
of Christ. I must stop procrastinating,
and instead of dressing the part, I need
to act out the play. I need to love my
husband like the Church is supposed to
love Christ. ;is is what that looks like:
I should be reverencing, adoring, loving, and walking in surrendered service
to my husband as the Church is to be in
relation to the Lord. I am to represent the
Church that loves her God with all her
heart, soul, mind, and strength. I de;nitely fall short of that with my spouse.
Time’s up: I have to get all the junk out of
the corners of my marriage and ask God
to change my heart.
Sharing the Good News
Jesus Christ came to earth, died, and rose
again. We certainly believe these things,
but do we really believe that He will return? Much of the Church has become
apathetic and lethargic, as if they have all
the time in the world.
I asked my 11-year-old son today, “If
you knew Jesus was coming back in one
hour, what would you do with that hour?”
He said he’d spend some of it repenting,
spend some forgiving, and spend the rest
in telling others that Jesus was coming in
less than an hour. Out of the mouth of my
babe, I saw my own shortfalls. Jesus Himself said: “And, behold, I come quickly; and
my reward is with me, to give every man
according as his work shall be. I am Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the end, the
;rst and the last” (Revelation 22: 12–13).
Keeping It Clean
Honestly, I fall short in each of these ;ve
areas. I am most pitiful most days. So
how do I get from here to there? How do
I clean my room?
I think it has something to do with
“keeping it clean” in a daily, active sense.
If we get things in order, it is easier to
keep it that way. I think that it is safe to
say that a “disciple of Christ” should be
“disciplined.” Christ lived the way we
should walk. ;e Word instructs us, the
Holy Spirit indwells us and empowers us,
but we are still commanded to “walk by
the Spirit” (Romans 8: 4, Galatians 5: 25).
God still requires our participation—
which requires us to be disciplined.
Let’s look in Revelation (chapters 1–4)
and see what the Lord tells the churches
about His soon return and what they
should do. First, He tells them what He
knows about them:
•;“I;know;you;.;.;.;”;(He;knows;what
needs to be cleaned up in us. Are we
taking the time to know Him?)
;ose chapters in Revelation also tell
us how to go back and do the ;rst things
the right way. If we ;nd we are not loving
others or honoring spouses or training
children or that we’re just being lazy and
procrastinating, here is the remedy:
•;“Remember;.;.;.;”;(Look;back;to;when
you were freed from sin and get back
on your knees in worship.)
Are we ready for the moment when
that heavenly timer goes o;?
;is hotel’s lobby has basketball playing on the television. ;e game is almost
over. ;e players are tired but are giving
their all during these last minutes of the
game. ;ey haven’t magically become
conditioned for this moment. For many
months, they have been faithful to practice a daily routine of conditioning. ;ey
cannot become lazy or apathetic; to do so
would be to forfeit the game or the championship or even their livelihood.
I was struck by how many people were
involved in that game: those who watched,
those who cheered, those who coached,
those who sat on the bench waiting to play,
and those who were actually playing the
game. Like them, we have a great cloud of
witnesses, we have the best Coach, and we
have cheerleaders and encouragers.
Deborah Wuehler is the Senior Editor for
TOS, participating author in ;e Homeschool Minute, wife to Richard, and mom
to eight gi;s from heaven. She loves digging
for buried treasure in the Word, reading,
writing, homeschooling, and dark chocolate! You may contact her at senioreditor
@; eHomeschoolMagazine.com.
www.; eHomeschoolMagazine.com
