People who are in the rut, the circular grave, find that it is getting harder for them to change.
They used to have spells when they were emotionally moved. Their wills got over on the side of God, and they really meant to make themselves into good Christians by the grace of God.
But those times are getting fewer.
They cannot afford to wait and say, "Oh, well, I will do it next Thanksgiving. I'll do it when I come home from vacation."
No, they will either do it now or they will not do it at all.
There comes a time when they must make a change.
If they do not make it, they never will. Time is stealing away their days of opportunity to make it. They began with a given number of days, and they have already used up so many days.
But the tragedy is that they do not know how many remain. They do not know how many they have left because they do not know how many they had to start with.
While they could count the number of days they have been on the earth, they do not know how that stacks up to the number accorded them, so they do not know where they are.
They only know that the days are doing what the poet said about the leaves. "The leaves of life keep falling one by one."
verse
O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.
— Psalm 144:3,4
thought
Our life-leaves are falling. Time ticks away. Let's change today, now! God cares. Let us care.
prayer
Lord, I want to change. I want to grow in You. I want to be wholly Yours in all areas of life.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
. . . people in ruts . . . discover that the passing of time tends to dull their religious feelings, and the signal that used to be quite clear is fading out.
then they worry a little and say, "The signal is gone. I'll have to do something." Suddenly it comes on again and they hear it a little and say, "Oh, it's not so bad after all."
They are just in a favorable pocket perhaps some new preacher has come to town. They think they are hearing the voice again, and they are, a little bit.
But it is not long until they are out of range and cannot hear it any more. Time has increased their indifference to spiritual things and dulled their religious feelings, continually making them harder to change.
Change is one of the ingredients of Christianity. If people could not change, the gospel would be absolutely meaningless.
If the Lord would say, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; repent and believe," and a person could not repent or believe, the gospel would be meaningless.
The fact that people can change is the only hope they have.
If they could not change, there would be no reason to preach to them that they must change.
And yet we are sent to preach that people should change, meaning they should repent.
They should turn from darkness to light.
They should turn from idols to God.
They should change.
This is absolutely necessary, a vital ingredient in the spiritual life.
verse
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
— Ephesians 4:1
thought
Thank God a man or woman can change! We don't have to be what we once were or even now are. We can change. It is God's provision in Christ that makes change not just possible but feasible.
prayer
O God, thank You that I can change. Your provision and the presence of Your Spirit within me invite change.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Churches get in ruts only because individuals get in ruts.
It is impossible that the church should do anything that individuals do not do.
It is impossible that we should make any progress except as made by individuals.
It is impossible there should be any regress unless individual Christians go backward.
Think about people who find themselves in religious ruts. They discover a number of things about themselves.
They will find that they are getting older but not getting any holier.
Time is their enemy, not their friend.
The time they trusted and looked to is betraying them, for they often said to themselves, "The passing of time will help me. I know some good old saints, so as I get older I'll get holier and better. Time will help me, purify me and revive me."
hey said that the year before last, but they were not helped any last year. Time betrayed them. They were not any better last year than they had been the year before. . . . I say to you that the people in the religious rut are getting older, but they are not getting any holier.
Time, which they have trusted to be their friend, is betraying them and proving to be their enemy.
Time is doing something else to them: it is increasing their indifference to spiritual things.
The signal that God used to be able to get through to them easily is now getting fainter and fading away. Once in a while on good days they can still hear it.
verse
"Why are you sleeping?" He asked them. "Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."
— Luke 22:46
thought
The passing of time does not assure holiness. Rather, it contributes to spiritual lethargy. If we are going to grow we need to rise NOW, today, and walk with God.
prayer
Lord, You lend me time that I may spend it well. Forgive me for squandering it. I want to use it for You.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Of course, people resent any word reflecting on them, but every once in a while there appears an awakened soul.
Some way or another this person got awake. Somehow God Almighty wakened him or her, whether by the crowing of the rooster or by the braying of Balaam's donkey. This person ceases to be mediocre and somnolent and becomes a blazing, shining light.
And then the sleeping saints pay to have him or her come and do their work for them.
They send people like this out to South Africa or the Far East to do their work for them. Meanwhile they stay home and sleep spiritually, and earn the money, because they are intellectually and physically awake to send them. When one of these people dies, they write the story of his or her life and may even go so far as to take up a collection to put up a little library in the person's memory. They could call it the "Awakened Saint Memorial."
But they are very careful not to be awakened themselves.
They are careful and perfectly happy to talk about how wonderful Robert Jaffray was, but they will not pay Jaffray's price.
They can talk endlessly about wonderful Dr. A. B. Simpson, but they will not go Simpson's way.
They are careful not to follow the person whose life they write about and whose memorial they erect.
But this is what Christianity is all about: the wakened soul, the morally and spiritually wakened.
God, who seems so far away, suddenly becomes close.
God, who had been all out of focus, a blur, now is seen to be the Son of Righteousness in clear sight, with healing in His wings.
VERSE
But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall.
— Malachi 4:2
THOUGHT
Though benumbed by drowsiness, we can recognize those who are wide awake to the fullness of God. Rather than admiring them from afar we need to rise up and join them in full awareness of spiritual reality. God wants each of us to glory in Him and reflect . . .
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, for those so reflective of You that others are drawn to You. I, too, want to so know You.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
What is the present condition of the evangelical church?
The bulk of Christians are asleep. I do not mean that the bulk of Christians who come to evangelical churches are not converted, because if I meant that I would say they were dead and never had been born again. But I say they are asleep.
It is possible to be morally asleep yet mentally, intellectually, physically and theologically alert.
The present condition is that we are asleep. These sleeping Christians do two things that God must grieve over.
One is that they control church affairs. We are democratic, and if we do not like a pastor we give him the bounce or pray that he will get another call. Then when the time comes we vote in whom we want and vote out whom we do not want. Church people control church affairs because they are intellectually, mentally and physically awake, but they may be morally and spiritually asleep. That is, they are so far down in the rut that they do not see up.
Many people who are asleep control church affairs.
It gets into whole conferences. Representatives will meet at the expense of the local church people. They will read minutes and pass resolutions, but they are asleep.
You know they are asleep by the way they talk as soon as the benediction is pronounced and they have adjourned.
You know they are asleep by their conduct, the things they are interested in or lack interest in, yet they control church affairs.
The second thing sleeping Christians do is set the standards for new Christians.
When you bring in a newly converted Christian, he or she automatically takes on the coloration, general mood and temperature of the solemn seats around him or her.
Pretty soon he or she is where they are, and once again there are no good examples of the Christian life.
VERSE
And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
— Romans 13:11
THOUGHT
Churches are not awakened unless people are. God's alarm has been going off for years. Are we listening? Let's wake up?you and me!
PRAYER
Surely, Your coming is nearer than ever before. Lord, I want to be fully awake and to encourage others to be so as well. Wakened believers assure a wakened Church.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
There is also spiritual sleep.
Notice Ephesians 5:14: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead."
This verse is often spoken to sinners, but it was not written to sinners.
Ephesians was never written to sinners. It is not a message to sinners at all, but a message to one of the best churches in the New Testament.
Yet the writer says, "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
Some of the Ephesians were in a somnolent condition; that is, they were morally good but unenlightened. They were religious but unanointed. It is perfectly possible for a good, faithful, loyal church member to be spiritually asleep?
Being in a spiritual state that parallels natural sleep.
When your husband, your wife, your child, your relative, your friend or you go to sleep tonight, the fact that you are unconscious and out of the running for a while is not bothering you. You know that normally you will wake up again. You are not dead, but you are cut off from your environment, all but that which is reflex breathing and a few other things.
Likewise it is possible to be a Christian, to be in the church and yet be asleep spiritually.
Then you have to be wakened suddenly.
You will probably be ashamed of yourself, angry with yourself, frustrated and disconcerted and say,
"What's the matter with me? All this time I was almost awake, but not quite."
VERSE
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
— Isaiah 60:1
THOUGHT
It's time to wake up. If we don't wake up now, it will soon be too late.
PRAYER
O God, Your light has come. Your glory shines. Father, I want to get up today and live in that light.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/