DAILY HOPE DEVOTIONAL: FEBRURARY 18 WHILE MEN SLEPT Scripture: Matthew 13: 24 – 30, 36 – 39

In a three series, this devotional will anchor on Jesus’ Parable of “the tares and the wheat” in which He likened the Kingdom of God to a man, who sow wheat in his farm, then enemy went and sowed tares while men are asleep. Many have explained the parable from various angles. It is actually a parable of what will happen to the righteous and the wicked in the church on the last judgment days. The parable is loaded with revelations on what could happen to the world if those who are on authorities close their eyes to counterfeit knowledge introduced into governance of the world, including the churches. This devotional will embrace other areas that as men slept, evil took over the affairs of the world.

Two words are to be looked at in this devotional. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary simply defines “sleep” as the absence of wakefulness and loss of consciousness of one’s surroundings.” Based on this, it is an issue when people are to be wakeful become unconscious to their surroundings. When this happens, enemies will cause havocs. The “tares” has to be understood as family-seed of wheat. It was not a far different seed. The Greek word Jesus used here means a seed too close to wheat family. The Philistines understood the word better. They have it as “darnel-grass. It looks very similar to wheat. It is usually very difficult to separate it from the wheat at growth age till harvest time.

Jesus was saying that, there are degenerated members of Christians in the church. They received same gospel, study same Bible and went through same doctrine. However, they open up their lives to corruptive seeds to be sown into them. While these people were allowing themselves to be contaminated; the leaders who supposed to watch over to bring them back to the true faith slept off; refused to take note of their gradual falling till much evil is done to the church. The devotional will extend its scope of revelation to cover other organs in the world which are been corrupted by strange knowledge, understanding, perceptions as well as evil things because “men slept.” In brief, all the evils the world is contending with today is as a result of going to sleep, of those who supposed to tackle the problem from onset.

As a Christian reading this devotional, I ask you to look back into the church ten years ago, or into any system of governance ten years ago or into the moral standards of people ten years ago. What do you see? How did we get here? Major answer “all men and women” who should stop the creeping in of the corrupt system went to sleep. Is like the Church is the worst hit! We seem to have ignored the admonition of Apostle Paul about watching out for the approach of evil days. Apostle Paul told us to be sensitive to the time we are in, always to discover “…it is high time to awake out of sleep” (Rom. 13: 11). How awake are we today as Christians? What happened that we are all crying about distortions of faith these days? Does it mean nobody saw things coming? It is all because men and women slept off!

PRAYER:

Pray that God should give you and the Body of Christ the grace of the Issachar children so as to have understanding of the times we are inside (1 Chro. 12: 32).

POSITIVE CONFESSION

I will not lose sight of the gift of my Salvation in the name of Jesus.

CONTACT US?

You can contact us for prayer requests or discussion through ubasimon341@gmail.com

bishopubaudenyi@hopealivechurch