Teenager, It’s Time to Wake Up and Join the Battle

This article was first published on the Rebelution blog, where you can read it in its entirety.

If my generation woke up, we’d realize we’re being treated like babies.

The world is coddling us with low expectations, stroking our flesh and rocking us into lethargy. We’re being spoon-fed the tasty lies that we don’t need to act. We don’t need to try. We don’t need to slap ourselves awake.

God is saying something different. Jesus is demanding us to wake up (Matt. 24:42), sober up (1 Thess. 5:6), and to dress ourselves for a vicious battle (Eph. 6:13).

The world needs teens and twentysomethings who are living aware. Satan is a prowling beast searching for hearts to deceive and devour (1 Pt. 5:8). If we aren’t on defense, we become prey.

My generation must stop slapping the snooze button. We must let the Spirit revive our hearts and ready our minds. In a slumbering and drunk world, we must live wide awake.

Stay Awake

When Judas led an angry mob into Gethsemane, Jesus’ friends were asleep. Instead of watching and praying, temptation overcame them. They weren’t ready for Jesus’ departure.

And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:40-41).

The disciples remind me of young people today. Caught between childhood bliss and the responsibilities of adulting, we can relate to Jesus’ followers. We’re tired and bored. We want to be devoted but can’t resist the urge to doze.

And if we don’t act quickly, we’ll miss Jesus.

We won’t just miss the Savior’s return, we’ll miss him today. Sleeping in sin, we’ll miss the things we could be doing for Jesus right now.

Battling spiritual drowsiness is an intense fight. But it’s a war we must not abandon. We must be alive and alert until the hour Christ returns.

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming (Matt. 24:42).

Finish reading this article on the Rebelution.com!