Rise And Shine

"At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." - Daniel 12:1-3 ESV

Are we numbered among the wise of our generation? We can be. God talks about two things. The wise will be like the brightness of the expanse (Raqiya - Strong's H7549 - translated firmament in the KJV) and then those who turn people to righteousness will be like stars in that expanse.

I'm not sure of the roots of the phrase, 'Rise and shine!' but this passage seems to speak that way. There is going to be a group of people who wake up on the wrong side of the bed but there will be others that are like blue sky during the day and clear open Heavens at night because they connected with people in grace. They shared. It wasn't personality. It was prayer and wisdom. It was love. God used them to 'turn heads' because they spoke of a beauty from eternity past that became the subject of their conversation. They had a story that stretched from horizon to horizon.

I don't always feel like sharing my faith. Some days I just want to put in my eight hours of work and then go eat a sandwich.

One day we are all going to 'wake up' and find out first hand the result of how we lived our lives. It won't be about God patting us on the back or wagging His finger. There will be a ceremony in Heaven because God does everything decently and in order but It will be a wattage issue. The light of God will either be streaming from our hands and person or it won't be. We will look at people and know something right off the bat about how they lived their lives because of the brightness. At that point our decisions about this life will be over. There is a limited window of opportunity and the choices are ours to make regardless of circumstances.

If we know this truth we can be awake in the moment. Priorities come into focus. The sandwich doesn't seem as important. The people waiting in line become important.

Let's shine together.

"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." - Luke 6:45 ESV

Let's share the gift of God that gives the gift of righteousness. Let's be ready to talk about Jesus. Our feelings will line up behind our will if we exercise our will in alignment with truth.

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