God calls disciples of Christ to be even keeled. That means He wants us to be sober minded. This daily devotional looks at how God wants self-control to lead to a balanced life for Him.
Nuggets
- We have submitted ourselves to God’s Will and should strive to do it.
- There are many things in this world that could be indulgences to disciples of Christ.
- God wants disciples of Christ to be self-controlled.
Devotions in the Christian Balance series
How Does Sober Mindedness Promote a Balanced Life?
When the chaos surrounding our lives get to be too much for us, we usually start looking for balance. It is in our best interest to look to God.
God knows what kind of lifestyle would bring us the most balance in our lives. The foundation is sober mindedness. Let’s take a look.
Let's Put It into Context #1
The definition of rest as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary that is appropriate for us is “peace of mind or spirit.”
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This is about what Vincent called a ripened faith. It means the contentment and peace in our relationship with God.
Balance is about equilibrium and stability. It is that even keel under which God wants us to operate.
Scriptures use the word sleep to describe three different states of humans. The first kind of sleep is the physical sleep. It is my goal to get at least four hours of sleep a night, hoping I get six.
The second kind of sleep is death. As a result of sin, our bodies deteriorate and/or stopped from living by other means.
The third kind of sleep is the most critical. It is talking about spiritual death. Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. This death can only be stopped by ABCDing.
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The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
Let's Put It into Context #2
“For you are all children of light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness” (I Thess. 5: 5 CSB)
Disciples of Christ are considered children of the light. That is because Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn. 8: 12 ESV).
Hallam felt this title was given to God’s children because of how baptism was referred. He wrote, “The ancient fathers often called baptism “illumination”; because it introduced and pledged to its recipients the enlightening influences of the Holy Spirit.”
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Children of God are also illuminated by the Holy Spirit to the character of God. We submit our wills to God, Who then uses the promptings of the Holy Spirit to open our consciences for instruction and change.
The opposite is children of the dark. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6: 12 ESV).
The darkness is equated with chaos. Satan works to create chaos so that we take our eyes off God.
Why Should Disciples of Christ Not Sleep?
“So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled” (I Thess. 5: 6 CSB)
It is logical that sin would be called sleep. We sleep in the darkness – usually – and are called children of darkness if we have not ABCDed. These are the goats of the world.
Glossary
Sleep is also equated with forgetfulness. Morris wrote, “In both spiritual and natural sleep we see not only forgetfulness as to the past and insensibility as to the present, we see, also, the entire absence of apprehension as to the future.”
Morris made all the usual comments about the complacency and terrors of sleep. Then he talked about the unwillingness of sleepers to be awakened.
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Have we ever run into that when we were witnessing? Not every non-believer is open to the saving grace of our Father. They may not yet have accepted that they are spiritually dead.
Binney pointed out that this is a period of inactivity. This activity is those who are children of the dark are usually not actively seeking God.
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Disciples of Christ are admonished to stay awake. We have submitted ourselves to God’s Will and should strive to do it. The motivation for this is thankfulness all that God has done for us.
The Preacher’s Monthly point blank told us why it is not a good idea for disciples to sleep. It was written, “While Christians sleep the enemy is busy — sinners perish — the world rushes madly to ruin!”
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Instead, disciples of Christ should be on guard. We’ve talked about watchfulness before. Watchfulness is a continual conscious examination of ourselves and all events so that we may follow God in all things.
Glossary
Swinnock told us the importance of watching. He wrote, “It is the mainstay of the soul, which, if once called off, we lie open to the shot of every enemy.”
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That shows us that the individual disciple needs to watch for his/her own spiritual health. Let’s expand that. The church also has to watch for its spiritual health. The church does not want to be caught sleeping.
Instead of being asleep, disciples need to be awake and sober. Sober is a character trait distinguished by self-control, genuineness, and sound moral judgment. It is a calm and temperate disposition.
Glossary
Disciples must be diligent in seeking God. We must consistently and persistently hear His Word, read it, study it, meditate on it, and memorize it. All through that, we need to be in prayer, asking God to provide the meaning.
Sober has that element of self-control in it. Control comes into play when we have to use our free will to make the decisions to choose what children of light should do or to do as children of darkness do.
It does take self-control because we do have free will. Self-control is the ability to withstand temptations by managing ourselves — our emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Free will is the ability within us to make decisions, which determine actions that produce character.
Glossary
How Do Indulgences Upset the Balance of Disciples of Christ?
“For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night” (I Thess. 5: 7 CSB)
There are many things in this world that could be indulgences to disciples of Christ. However, these indulgences tempt disciples of Christ to sin. Those indulgences can unbalance disciples’ lives.
Patterson gave us a list of what some of these indulgences are.
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Physically
One of the most commonly identified indulgences in Scriptures is the excessive use of alcohol. I think we can add drug use and sex outside of marriage to that.
Mentally
The worldview of success these days is an indulgence. Patterson mentioned ambition. That does lead to vanity.
Spiritually
This one may seem strange at first glance. Patterson explained this as, “… keeping free from wild and unregulated enthusiasm in religion.”
We need to worship God in the appropriate way. He has specific instructions as to how we are to worship Him. We just talked about the Israelites worshiped God, but He did not accept their worship.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
I think this could lead to our wanting God to condone whatever we want to give Him while keeping our pet sins. It has nothing to do with submission.
Circumstantially
I read this to be, sometimes, we are not content in the situation in which God places us. We just had a whole series on being content where God plopped us down.
Devotions in the Contentment Leads to Tranquility series
Socially
Patterson only mentioned watching the friends that we make. I believe we can expand this to our significant other and our coworkers.
Once we start giving in to these indulgences, the balance in our lives are thrown off. They start controlling our lives rather than God.
It is no longer a temptation. Temptation is a suggestion in our mind that would lead us to sin rather than following God’s Will. It is also that period of time between conception and execution of doing what is sinful.
The indulgence becomes a sin, and we are sunk.
Disciples of Christ Are Self-Controlled
“But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation” (I Thess. 5: 8 CSB)
God wants disciples of Christ to be self-controlled. In that way, we give Him control of our lives.
Wait! Isn’t that contradictory?
No, I don’t think so. We exercise self-control and make the decisions God wants us to make. That gives Him control of our lives.
Mayo gave us some good advice. He wrote that disciples “… must keep their natural desires and appetites after the things of this world within due bounds.”
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No, it is not going to be easy. Satan is going to do everything in his power to get us to give into the temptations.
Luckily, God has given us the armor to help protect us. We don’t have to face Satan on our own.
To read devotions in the Armor of God series, click the appropriate button below.
Making the Connections
God doesn’t want disciples of Christ to go from one extreme to another. He wants us to be even keeled.
More importantly, God wants us living for Him and imitating Him. No, that isn’t going to be a snap.
God is very involved in our attempts to live for Him. He has given us tools to help us. He will be with us every step of the way.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
As we are talking about living for God, that will mean we need to be self-disciplined. Keeping even keeled isn’t an easy task. We are emotional.
How Do We Apply This?
We need to imitate God. How do we do that?
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
Loving Heavenly Father. We want to be like You. We want Your character to be our character. We want the even keeled lives to which You have called us. In all we do, we submit our lives to You. Help us be sober and controlled so that we may give You the control. Amen.
What do you think?
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