The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts (Romans 13:12-14).
We know life can be gone in an instant. Just one week ago, we were all stunned with disbelief when we heard the news of the death of Robin Williams. I’m thankful that the rest of us were given a wake up call – given a moment to soberly think about just how quickly life can be snuffed out – but the Bible has been telling us that for years. The above passage has the apostle Paul urging the Roman christians to realize the brevity of life. And just what does he tell them to do?
Cast off works of darkness – There are dark spots in all of our lives. Each of us have temptations and struggles that bring about sin far more often than we would like. But Paul urges the Romans, and us, to realize that we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. We aren’t guaranteed 30 minutes from now. Get rid of the things that are hindering your walk. Get rid of the things that could keep you from an eternity with your Savior. No pleasure will be worth hell. Cast off the works of darkness – which means purging the depths of your heart and ridding it of satan’s snare.
Put on the armor of light – We talked just last week about this life being a battle. Ephesians 6 gives us an entire suit of armor that we need to be prepared to be God’s weapons. We must make sure that while we our ridding our lives of dark things, we are putting in light things. Put in righteousness. Put in holiness. Put it purity. Put in self-control and knowledge of scripture. It is not enough to simply not sin; we must do good (Eph. 2:10, Matt.7:21). That also means speaking good to others (Phil. 2:14-15).
Walk properly – Paul gives a few specifics on walking improperly: drunkenness, revelry, lewdness and lust, strife and envy. These are things we must put off. But the opposite would be true if we want to walk properly. So we must be sober (1 Peter 5:8), pure (Matthew 5:8), peacemakers (Rom. 12:18). It’s not enough to sit in a building and claim righteousness. No; since we are not guaranteed tomorrow, we must let others see our good works today so that they can glorify God (Matt. 5:16).
Make no provision for the flesh – The word provision used here actually means foreknowledge. When I think foreknowledge, I think about prior knowledge. Previous meditation. So if I want to seize the day – to put off darkness and put on Christ – I am going to stop thinking about my flesh. I am going to instead set my mind on things above, not dwell on temporary, often sinful things associated only with the earth. I am not going to give myself an opportunity to be involved with the sinful things of my past anymore, because I am done with them. Done in the flesh. Done in my mind. Just done.
These are the ways we can live ready. We can live with hope and confidence (1 John 4:17), knowing that we are abiding in God and He is abiding in us.
