Thought for Today
Numbers 10:5 When you blow an alarm, the camps on the east side shall set out;
Jeremiah 49:2 Therefore, the time is surely coming, says the LORD, when I will sound the battle alarm . . .
2 Corinthians 7:11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves guiltless in the matter.
1 Peter 3:6 Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You have become her daughters as long as you do what is good and never let fears alarm you.
We awoke this morning to one of the most dreaded, feared and irritating noise known to modern homeowners. One of our smoke alarms was chirping! Thankfully, it was not alarming, merely chirping to indicate a low backup battery. But, that is a sound impossible to ignore. I’m sure that is not accidental, but is by design.
Alarms are meant to alarm. Otherwise, they are useless. Some alarms are military in nature, serving as warnings of imminent danger. Some alarms are safety related. If you have ever been on a construction site, you have heard the incessant clanging of what we dismissively referred to as OSHA bells, the required warning device on equipment to indicate something was backing up. On trash pickup day, we hear them as the garbage truck navigates our traffic island having to back up several times to get around the tight circle.
Modern life comes with numerous and various alarms. Many of us have lived under the tyranny of the alarm clock. One of the greatest perquisites of retirement is freedom from the every weekday morning alarm. There is irony, however, in the fact that studies of aging reveal that without the requirement of having to get up each morning with purpose for the day ahead, lifespans are shortened. Even in retirement, we need the motivation of staying busy. Life needs purpose.
As most societies have progressed into some version of our industrial economies, we find other forms of alarms. Our complex societies seem to have increased the speed at which time passes. They have put new demands on our time. Agrarian societies generally regulated their lives by the rising and setting of the sun. The pattern of lives was determined by daylight and by seasonal changes. Even diets were regulated by seasons.
Industrial societies have offered the ‘joy’ of multi-shift operations, factories operating around the clock. They do so every day of the week and every week of the year. Modern transportation has lifted some of our dietary restrictions, allowing us to enjoy fresh produce in every season of the year. In many countries, produce is available in the supermarket from almost every other country.
Other alarms, however, are a product of our more advanced societies. When I was a young boy, we had weekly bomb drills. Most larger cities had air raid sirens that would be tested weekly. Our elementary school had a bomb drill we practiced weekly when those sirens were tested. I always wondered whether a smart enemy would figure out that the best time to attack us would be at noon on Friday when most cities were testing their sirens. Who would know then that the attack was real?
Most parents of teenagers dread telephone calls in the middle of the night. As we get older, any telephone call late at night is cause for alarm. Emergency vehicle sirens become causes for alarm, intensified as the sound increases implying the vehicle is getting nearer.
We are well aware of the many possible alarms in our daily lives. Right now, I am acutely aware of that chirping fire alarm. Are there alarms in our spiritual lives? Must we be constantly alert for warning alarms of spiritual danger? To some degree, YES! It is easy to get consumed by our daily routine, lost in the busyness and business of life. When we do, it is easy to neglect our time for prayer, our devotionals, our conversations with God. Do you set aside, without fail, some time each day to pray? Do you read your Bible daily? Do you worship regularly? If not, listen for the alarms. Pay attention to your spiritual health as well as your mental and physical health. All are part of the totality of the breath of life God breathed into you.
Stay safe, pay heed to your spiritual alarms, trust God,
Pastor Ray