Bible Verse of the Day Tuesday January 17th, 2023

 Romans 13:11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

Waking up from our slumber is a beautiful image of our fatigued soul waking up to a beautiful day as we greet the morning sun breaking over the eastern horizon. He is bringing us into conscious awareness of the responsibilities we face going into a new day. However, it is not only a physical awakening and recognition that we are to meet but also a heavenly awareness that we must wake up from our spiritual stagnation.

The return to this earth of Christ Jesus is nearer this day than yesterday and will be closer tomorrow than today. Therefore, it is critical that we are ready when Jesus comes back for His children. However, we are not to focus only on our readiness but also on following God's will for our lives. The only reason we are left here one heartbeat after our Salvation is to tell others about the saving grace of Christ Jesus.

God will lead us to those that need the message of the gospel. God is drawing these to Himself, and He will use us to witness the blessings bestowed upon us. God can and will do the same for all people that accept Christ as their Savior. No one can tell us when Jesus will return to take His Children Home. Some have attempted to predict the date of the return of Jesus, but all have failed. In the Book of Romans, Paul led us down what is known as the "Roman's Road" to Salvation.

In his letter to the Christians in Rome Paul teaches us of God's wrath and His justified condemnation on the fallen lost souls that have not yet come to Christ (Romans 3:10 &23; 6:23). However, he tells us of God's beautiful and glorious love that sent His one and only Son that loved all people so much He died for us even though we are all sinners (Romans 5:8). Paul also told us through the letter to the Romans that if we will but believe Jesus is the true promised Messiah, placing our faith and trust in Him we will be saved (Romans 8:9-10). Finally, Paul tells us that no matter how bad a sinner we conceive ourselves to be, all that call on the Name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13).

Let us all know Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior, awake from our spiritual slumber, and ask God to help us to be a better reflector for His light in this lost, dark, and dying world. How we live may be the only sermon some lost person needs to give their lives to Christ and accept Him as their Lord and Savior.