Jesus said in Matthew 24:13 - “The one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” There is a danger, especially when we are young and hear the Christian message, that we reduce the Christian life to simply this: “I want to get to heaven.” But eternal life is much more than that. It is a relationship with God our Heavenly Father that can begin right here on earth. But this relationship requires us to be alert at all times so we don’t find ourselves drifting from God’s presence. The Christian life is a fight to endure until the end. It is a battle to stay awake, stay alert, and preserve that restful relationship with God our Father.
Ephesians 6:18 says - “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance…”
This verse is right after the passage on the armor of God proving that we put on the armor primarily so that we can stay alert in prayer. Spiritual alertness is not optional for a disciple of Jesus. It is the way we guard and nurture the life of God that He has planted in us.
The Devil Devours by Slowly Choking Our Faith
1 Peter 5:8 - Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
A lion often kills its prey not by tearing it apart instantly, but by grabbing its neck and slowly cutting off its air. It is a death by suffocation and not an instant death.
That is a picture of how the devil seeks to choke our faith. Many times, he does not destroy a disciple in one dramatic moment. He gradually starves spiritual life. He slowly chokes the word of God until what was once alive begins to wither.
Jesus gives us another picture of this in Matthew 13.
Matt 13:24-28 - The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also…And he said to them, “An enemy has done this!”
The field can be a picture of our hearts. The Lord may have planted good seed in our hearts through His word, through our parents, through elders, through Sunday meetings, youth meetings, or personal devotion. But while we are spiritually sleeping, the enemy comes and sows tares among the wheat.
A tare is a toxic weed that looks like wheat. That is what makes it so dangerous. It may not look obviously sinful at first. It may not immediately alarm anyone around us. Our parents, friends, and brothers and sisters in the church may look at us and say, “He seems spiritual. She comes to the meetings. They know the right words.”
But if we examine our hearts honestly, we may find that the enemy has planted toxic weeds that are slowly choking the life of God within us.
It may be the songs and playlists we keep listening to that slowly dilute the word of God in our hearts. It may be what we are filling our eyes with on the internet. It may be websites and apps we keep returning to. It may be an addiction that we are hiding. It may be something that appears innocent, like shopping and coveting what we do not have. It may be gossip, destructive conversations, or worldly talk that we allow into our ears and then repeat with our mouths. For many young people, it may simply be mindless scrolling on Instagram, reels, shorts, videos, and feeds that waste our time and slowly drain our spiritual strength.
These things may not look like a lion attacking us. But they may be the lion’s slow suffocation. They are the tares that choke the wheat the Lord has planted..
Do Not Sell Your Birthright When You Are Famished
Genesis 25:29-34 tells us that Esau came in from the field famished. Jacob had cooked stew, and Esau said, “Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there, for I am famished.” Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” Esau ate, drank, rose, and went on his way.
Gen 25:34 - Thus Esau despised his birthright.
Hebrews 12:16 warns us not to be immoral or godless like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.
What is the spiritual meaning for us?
The Lord has given us a birthright. He has called us to be sons and daughters of the King. He has called us to a royal life, a priestly calling, a life dedicated to Him. We are not called to dabble in trash. We are called to eat the King’s food.
But there are many evenings when we come home from school or work famished. We are tired, mentally worn down, emotionally exhausted, and hungry for some kind of satisfaction. That is often when the enemy comes.
He says, “Just tonight, are you willing to trade your birthright? Just satisfy your senses a little. Feed your eyes. Feed your ears. Feed your flesh. It is not that sinful. Just relax. Just escape. Just scroll. Just watch. Just listen. Just indulge.” When we choose to indulge our senses instead of staying alert to God we are in effect despising our royal birthright in that moment.
In contrast, David chose to reject the voice of the enemy and be alert when he was famished. Psalms 119:148 - My eyes anticipate the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word. David knew that the night watches were dangerous. He knew that when he was tired, he needed to stay alert. So he disciplined himself to meditate on God’s word.
Anticipate that the devil and your flesh will come for you when you are tired, especially late in the evening when you are lying on your bed and your phone is within grabbing distance. May we learn to replace the satisfaction of the senses with the satisfaction of meditating on the King’s word. Do not sell your spiritual birthright and the “fatted calf” God has for you for indulging your senses with “pigs’ food”
Wake Up Every Morning to Listen
Isaiah 50:4 - He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
It is not your alarm clock that ultimately wakes you up. It is the Lord who gives you breath again each morning. And He does not wake you up merely so that you can rush into your day. He wakes you up so that you can listen to Him as a disciple.
This is why we must begin the day by saying, “Lord, I want to be spiritually alert today. I want to keep the phone line open with You. I want to listen. I want to put on the armor of God so that I can pray at all times in the Spirit.”
To pray at all times does not mean that we are constantly speaking words out loud. It means that the line of fellowship with God is open. Like a phone call or video call with a close friend that stays connected while you go about your work, you may not be speaking every second, but you are ready to listen when He speaks and ready to speak to Him at any moment. That is the picture of spiritual alertness.
Make the Most of Your Time
Ephesians 5:14 - Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
This is the word of the Lord to anyone who has become spiritually drowsy. Wake up. Arise from spiritual depression. Christ will shine on you.
Ephesians 5:15-17 - Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Many young people ask, “What is God’s will for my life? Who will I marry? What job will I get? What should I do in the future?”
But God’s will for you today is very clear: Be careful how you walk. Do not be foolish. Make the most of your time. Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 - And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.
Dissipation means a slow wasting away. Many of us may not be tempted with wine, but we can be intoxicated with other things. We can be intoxicated with entertainment, social media, attention, music, shopping, romance, anxiety, self-pity, or the approval of friends. These things slowly cause the life of God to dissipate in us. Instead, the Lord says: Be filled with the Holy Spirit. That is God’s will for you today.
Do Not Sleep from Sorrow
In Luke 22, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives as was His custom. Prayer was not something He did only in a crisis. It was His custom.
Luke 22:40 - Pray that you may not enter into temptation.
This is the word of the Lord to us as well. Pray today that you may not enter into temptation tonight. Anticipate the night watches before they come.
Jesus withdrew about a stone’s throw away from His disciples and prayed, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” He was in agony, but He prayed fervently. And an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.
God has pleasures for us in the strengthening of angels in His presence that are far greater than the pleasures our phone, our flesh, or our temptations can offer. Psalm 16:11 - In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
In contrast to Jesus, the disciples disobeyed Him and were not alert in prayer. Luke 22:45 - When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow.
There is a spiritual sleep that comes from sorrow. Something may have happened at school, work, home, or in a relationship. Someone said something behind our back to put us down or to provoke us. We feel discouraged, anxious, rejected, condemned, or full of self-pity. We begin to feel like victims. And that sorrow lulls us to sleep spiritually.
The greater danger is not the sin that tripped us up. The greater danger is the sin of discouragement that keeps us down.. Do not succumb to sorrow. Do not remain in self-pity. Do not sleep from discouragement. Wake up and pray and run back to the Lord.
Jesus said to the church in Sardis: Rev 3:1-3 - I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die…remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent.
This is a warning for us. We may have a name that we are alive. We may attend meetings. We may say the right things. We may have an appearance of healthy wheat in the field. But the Lord sees what is actually happening inside. His word to us is not condemnation. It is mercy.
Wake up. Strengthen what remains. Remember what you have received and heard. Keep it in your heart. Repent. If the Lord convicts us, may we never treat that conviction lightly. May we say, “Lord, I want to wake up. I want to repent. I want to stay alert.”
When the Light Strikes the Prison Cell
Acts 12:6 - Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.
This can be a picture of us spiritually. We may be asleep and bound by chains. We may feel unable to overcome a certain addiction, habit, thought pattern, or sin. We may feel chained on the right and chained on the left. But then the Lord’s light shines into our heart through His Word.
Acts 12:7 - And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands.
Notice that when the light came, Peter was struck. The Lord’s correction may feel painful. It may come through a message, a parent, an elder brother, a spiritual brother or sister, or an event in our life. It may make us uncomfortable. But that painful strike is meant to wake us up. Do not be offended when the Lord corrects you. Say instead, “This is the light of God shining into my prison cell. This is my opportunity for the chains to fall off.”
Acts 12:8 - And the angel said to him, “Put on your belt and strap on your sandals”. That is a picture of equipping ourselves once more with the armor of God - the belt of Truth and the sandals of the gospel of peace with the assurance from God that we are His sons and daughters - much like how the father in the Prodigal Son story immediately girded his repentant son and put sandals on his feet.
Acts 12:10 - Now when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself
Many of us are praying, “Lord, open this gate. Open the door for marriage. Open the door for a job. Open the door for ministry. Open the door for fellowship. Open the door for the answer I am waiting for.” But the Lord may be saying, “First, I must wake you up. First, I must shine light into the prison cell. First, I must strike you with conviction. First, your chains must fall off. Then, as you follow Me, the gate will open by itself.” Trust the Lord with the gate. Respond to the light He shines and His striking to wake you up today.
Seek Fellowship and Testify
After Peter was delivered, he immediately sought fellowship with the brothers and sisters. He went to the house of Mary, where many were gathered and praying. Then he described to them how the Lord had led him out of prison and said, “Report these things to the brethren.” (Acts 12:17)
This is how we must come to fellowship, midweek groups, and church meetings. Not merely with thoughts and theories, or just to consume, but with the testimony of the Lord’s working in our own life.
“The Lord convicted me; The Lord shone light into my heart; The Lord delivered me from a prison; The Lord helped me stay alert by equipping me; Thhe Lord caused my chains to fall off; Then the Lord opened a gate”
Isaiah 50:4 says the Lord gives us the tongue of disciples so that we may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.
Conclusion
May we stay spiritually alert at all times. May we put on the armor of God and pray at all times in the Spirit. May we anticipate the night watches when we are tired and famished. May we never sell our spiritual birthright for the temporary satisfaction of our senses. If the Lord has convicted us, may we not receive it as condemnation, but as an exciting invitation to come up higher. May we allow the light to shine into the prison cell. May we receive the strike that wakes us up. May we get up quickly, gird ourselves, and follow Him and then eagerly seek to encourage others.