Sounding The Alarm

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very morning at 5:00, my alarm sounds.  No matter the weather outside and no matter how restful my sleep may or may not have been, that alarm sounds telling me to get out of bed and start my day.  As I lay in bed this morning listening to that alarm, I began to think about all the different ways I receive warnings and alerts throughout the day.

My computer at work has an alarm informing me of the arrival of new e-mails.  This alarm sounds all the time as you can imagine.  Outside my office door there is a fire alarm to alert everyone in the building of impending danger.  My car is equipped with an anti-theft system that will send out a blaring shrill should anyone attempt to climb in without permission and, like most of you, my home has an alarm to alert me of a fire or an intruder.  I constantly set off this alarm by opening doors without first turning off the alarm.  I’ll bet this happens to many of you as well.

It should come as no surprise to us that the Bible speaks of the alarm found in the human heart.  This alarm sounds to alert us of the potential dangers in our thought lives, in our actions, and in our reactions to the various situations life brings our way.  This alarm is found in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

You want to talk about an alarm!  My morning alarm hurts my ears but God’s alarm goes straight to the bones, joints, marrow, and the heart!  It leaves nothing to chance!  It touches and affects every fiber of our being and it judges our thoughts, our attitudes, and our intentions.

If you are like me, you hear this alarm several times during the day.  God continually warns me of thoughts, of reactions, of words I’d like to say but shouldn’t and of attitudes I have that are unpleasing to him.  That is the purpose of the alarm; it is to wake us from our slumber in order to face things in the proper frame of mind and spirit.

Is the alarm sounding in your life today?  If so, listen to it and obey it.  Don’t roll over and hit the snooze button, hoping for a little reprieve.  Instead, let God search your heart and alert you to the changes that need to be made in order to face life’s situations in a way that is pleasing to him.  Have a great day today!