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“Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” – Ephesians 5:13b-16 (KJV)
Having teenagers I learned a couple of their characteristics – difficulty getting out of bed and feeling invincible are a couple that come to mind. Teens sometimes have an attitude of unconcern for what we, adults, know is important and warn them about. Most grow out of it and survive but, tragically, some don’t.
We can’t afford being spiritual teenagers, with a similar disregard. Almost weekly another evangelical pastor, politician, or believer makes the headlines with failure, or just quietly falls away – like baby sea turtles getting picked off as they dash to the sea. They can’t all have been fake believers; at some point we must adopt the perspective that at least some of them had a vibrant faith but somehow stumbled into trouble.
No one is immune, make a special effort to hang around God’s people and stay vibrant. Avoid potentially compromising situations. Ask Jesus to give a fresh look at him through the Bible, actually opening it up and reading (it doesn’t matter where, it’s all good).
-fritz
