Week 58 - Free Weekend Program for Street and vulnerable children

Week 58 - Free Weekend Program for Street and vulnerable childre

Text : Romans 13:11-14

Theme : The Day is Near

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.

12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

Time is of the essence. Let us not waste time in idleness or vain glory. We must take the gospel seriously, prioritizing it above life itself and cherishing it more than necessary food.

To seek the Lord requires diligent study of the Scriptures and continual prayer. This is wisdom, so let us give our attention to it! nothing should distract us as the Word is being preached.

God has given us the opportunity to hear the gospel and to keep learning it. We squander our opportunity and miss the time of God’s visitation if we ignore this. Our appointed time is when we hear the gospel; it could be our last time—who knows?

Tomorrow is not in our hands; all we have is now! It could be our last day on earth, or Christ may return. Either way is fine as long as we keep our eyes on Christ, living daily to serve Him. Hebrews 3:15 says, “Today, when you hear His voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”

Most Israelites missed their opportunity; they rejected Christ and couldn’t see Him because they wanted something else; their minds were on something else.

It could be the same for us. Where is your mind? What are you thinking about right now? Are you distracted? Is your mind set on the gospel? Are you hearing?

God speaks to us through the mouth of a preacher who teaches the gospel. Through the gospel, God is speaking to us in a way that is helpful to our eternal soul; the gospel enriches our soul.

Mr. Heshimu has been teaching us every Thursday and Sunday, but it’s not him—it is God speaking through his mouth and through his voice.

So, let’s put away laziness and slothfulness. To be lazy and slothful is to lack diligence, to drag our feet, to give in to sleep, slumber, and to become inactive in faith and good works. It’s like the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25—they all fell asleep, not actively waiting for the master. To wait on the master is not to sit idle, but to serve Him while we await His return. He has promised to return; almost everyone knows Jesus is coming back, even Muslims believe He is coming back

Are you looking forward to His return? What must we do while we wait? Sit idle and lazy around? No! We must be busy about our Father’s business, which is our purpose on earth. Like a preacher rightly said, that purpose is to know Christ and to make Him known; this is our labor here on earth. It means growing in grace and serving God with the gifts He has given us until He returns or takes us home. We must strive to be faithful stewards, not wicked servants.

If God has blessed you with the knowledge of the gospel, how hard and diligent are you working to grow in that truth, live by it, and help others come to that knowledge? Let’s read 2 Peter 1:3-8: “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Do you see the progression, the growth? Are we there yet? No! We are not. We keep learning and growing by giving our attention to the gospel and our hearts to prayer continually.

Don’t think you have plenty of time. Time is not in our hands; we don’t know how much time we have left or when Christ will return. The Scripture says that the time is nearer now than when we first began our journey of faith. It’s nearer now than 2,100 years ago when Christ died on the cross.

Prosper lost his sister; she died before she was one year old. Black lost his sister; she was less than three months old. All of us here are five years and above—what will make us think we have time? Tomorrow is not in our hands; we don’t know when the Lord will return or when He will call us home. Take every opportunity to grow in the knowledge of the Lord and let’s do our best to help someone else.

Additional, we can’t stay in sin with the hope of repenting tomorrow—it must be put away now. It shouldn’t stay a minute longer in our hearts. Tell it to God and ask Him to help you. Psalm 66:18 says, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” So, let’s take our stubbornness and evil hearts to God, and He will make them new. He will take away the heart of stone—a cold, mean, lustful heart that laughs over sin, relishing iniquity’, and give us a heart of flesh—a heart filled with godly sorrow that leads to repentance.

Do you doubt that you have an evil heart? I have no doubt about mine. let’s read Jeremiah 17:9. You see, God cannot lie. He tells the truth, like a doctor who diagnoses the disease inside the body and offers the medication needed so we can be healed and stay alive. God knows our sin; He offers us the gospel as the only medication for our sin-sick soul. “He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions—snatching them from the door of death” (Psalm 107:20).

This is why we must learn the gospel and understand it. It is God’s word to us; it saves us from sin and its eternal destruction. Have you heard the gospel already? Then keep growing in the knowledge of it, as we read in 2 Peter 1:3-8. Be like the psalmist, who said, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let’s go into the house of the Lord.’” Through prayer, we can take delight in the Lord, striving to help others. The time is short, our days here on earth are small compared to eternity, so let’s walk wisely, making the best of our time.

Secondly, put away the deeds of darkness. What are the deeds of darkness? They are things that bring us shame before God—sinful deeds. Once Adam sinned, darkness came upon everyone, and Satan began to rule. But in Isaiah 60, the Lord said, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you, and His glory appears over you.”

What does this mean? It means that God has brought the light of the glorious gospel of Christ into our hearts. Through the gospel, He sends His light to us. Your light comes when you hear and understand the gospel, trust in Christ, and bear fruit. Through the gospel preached, we see our sin, our need for a Savior, and we rejoice because of what Christ has done to put away our sin. That understanding is light! It is not physical light from NEPA or a candle; it is spiritual light that makes us understand the gospel and gives us the grace to put faith in Christ.

Sinners don’t have it; people of this world don’t have it. They are still in darkness without the knowledge of their sin or the grace that is found in Christ Jesus. They are blind and in darkness until God opens their eyes, they can’t see. Jesus was in front of the Israelites, but they couldn’t see Him. Only God can open eyes and cause us to put faith in Christ.

Therefore, now that we have been redeemed from darkness and separated from the world of darkness unto Christ—our light and our salvation—let us conduct ourselves in a respectable manner as children of God, children of light, just as we would during the day when everyone is watching, but most importantly, knowing that God Himself is watching.

Let’s live a godly life, not like the world in darkness who parade themselves by day in tight clothing or at night in dark places, by the street corner like harlots because of money—a phone, laptop, suya, shawarma, or even a visa or ticket to London. Unlike Esau, we must not compromise the honor of Christ for food or things that perish; we are the bride of Christ, so we must honor God with our bodies.

Being drunk dishonors God as well. Children don’t drink, so don’t try to do it when no one is watching. God is watching! Fear Him, let’s learn to honor Him through our obedience. Stay away from your dad’s drink when your parents are not at home. That gin (alcohol) they sell in sachets is not for you.

Lastly, let’s watch the company or friends we keep, avoid idle chatter, gossip, excessive talking, etc. Also, don’t join gang of friends who rape girls in school corners and toilets because she will be ashamed to tell her parents or the police. So now, you feel nothing will happen, but God is watching you, and certainly, something will happen! He will send you to hellfire, where you will burn forever unless you repent.

Promiscuity—licentiousness—starts with secretly watching naked women, men, or pornography on TV or reading a magazine through bad company of friends in school and in the neighborhood. It grows to where you start speaking profanity from your mouth—vulgar, indecent, and sexually explicit language that is offensive and inappropriate. Again, it all starts from observation—watching, to discussion—talking about it, to the action—touching it and doing it (James 1:13-14). It shows a lack of respect for others, especially regarding their sexual parts and those of their family and friends. This lack of decency and morality leads to reckless behavior.

God is not pleased with these things, whether we do them secretly or publicly, and He warns us against them. We must strive to avoid them. The Scriptures say, “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off!” Don’t let sin flourish within you; don’t use your members as instruments of unrighteousness. Don’t give your eyes to sin, feeding your mind and soul unto destruction.

We must avoid conflict and envy. God is able to fill our hearts with contentment in His love. This is my regular prayer—that I will live for the glory of God alone. Temptations are all around us, we see them daily but our eyes must be on Christ. Jesus said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one” (John 17:15).

We must rely on Christ in the face of temptations, be it envy, jealousy, and evil selfish desires. Trusting that God is faithful and His promises are real, they will never fail. He said, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure it.”

So let’s put away envy and jealousy and be encouraged by Scripture, which says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain. We brought nothing with us into this world, and we will depart with nothing” (1 Timothy 6:6). Everything we have is a gift from God; let’s seek to honor Him with all He has given us. Don’t worry about what He has given someone else. In His wisdom, He has given us all we need because He loves us with everlasting love; never doubt that.

Therefore, resist sin, deny it the opportunity it seeks to manifest through your body. Also, if necessary, Keep away from friends who pressure you to do wrong things. You don’t need such company. Read Psalm 1 when you get home; it warns us about bad company.

We can not live to impress our friends or family in the flesh; so stop striving for the approval, acceptance, and respect of others. Let’s seek to please the Lord and live for His glory and honor alone; the rest is secondary, whether it comes or not is irrelevant.

If possible, we should stay away from relationships that make us feel inferior, where we are constantly struggling to please other people and labouring to gain their acknowledgment, acceptance, and respect. We are accepted in Christ; in His wisdom, He made us exactly as we are for His own glory. Our value is found in Christ, and in Him, we find fulfillment, not in the fleeting praise, approval, or acceptance of fallen men. Jesus said, and I paraphrase, Whoever drinks from that well of man’s acceptance, approval, or praise will thirst again.” There is no fulfillment or satisfaction in that. We find fulfillment only in Christ.

Be mindful of this because Satan often tempts us in this area (Mark 4:19). When we long to “fit in” and feel comfortable in the midst of worldly friends and family, constantly judged by material things rather than godly character, we may begin to feel ashamed of our physical, financial, and material circumstances. This can easily lead to discontentment, murmuring, complaining, and ingratitude toward God.

So, Watch out! Friendship with the world is enmity with God. The privilege to stand accepted in Christ is our greatest honor. However, according to Scripture, “A man who has honor but does not know it is like a beast that is perishing.” He is seeking to feed from the pigpen when the Lord has prepared a table for him.

This is the nature of our sinful flesh, which must be subdued by the power of the Holy Spirit: “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there” (Galatians 5:24). Let this be our guide; as we thrive to live by it.

I will close by reminding us that we need the help of the Holy Spirit to crucify the flesh and to live for Christ. We must take these biblical instructions to heart and to God in prayer. Let’s take our sins and every carnal inclination to Him as well, asking for His help by the mercy and grace that is in Christ Jesus and I am confident that He will help us, according to 1 John 5:14-15.

God bless you.