“To the angel of the church in Sardis write the following:
“This is the solemn pronouncement of the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a reputation that you are alive, but in reality you are dead. Wake up then, and strengthen what remains that was about to die, because I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Therefore, remember what you received and heard, and obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will never know at what hour I will come against you. But you have a few individuals in Sardis who have not stained their clothes, and they will walk with me dressed in white, because they are worthy. The one who conquers will be dressed like them in white clothing, and I will never erase his name from the book of life, but will declare his name before my Father and before his angels. The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ Revelation 3:1-6
New English Translation
In Sardis, we see a church who is going through the motions. They’re doing the same ol’ same ol’ and everyone thinks they are doing alright. However, Jesus thinks differently because He sees that they are missing the point. They’re no longer relying on His truth. They’re no longer obeying Him. And they’re not repenting.
Jesus gives us simple guidance here: remember His truth, obey it, and repent when we fall short. Yet, we tend to try and fit faith into our own comfortable mold, which causes us to disregard those simple steps. That’s what Sardis was doing.
Often, we go through the motions like Sardis. For example, rather than intentionally obeying Jesus, we settle for doing the “good things” that aren’t necessarily serving God. See, being a good person, doing good deeds, is not the same as obeying God and loving Him well. Obedience is the clearest first step of loving God. When we’re just going through the motions, we’re slipping into doing the easiest route rather than sacrificing of ourselves, which is a part of love.
See, if you reread the text above, God wasn’t saying that all of them was dead. Instead, He said to save the part that wasn’t yet. God saw that a piece of them was in the right place; however, it wasn’t any good without loving Him.
Are you trying to do things half-way? Do you try to make faith easier? Make it fit into your life? That’s not real faith, that’s just a nice thought.
What are some practical ways that we can move past this? Well, refocus your life. It’s very easy to get focused on making everything fit around us. However, nothing is really supposed to be about us. Our entire existence should be centered on God. So, if you’re trying to make your faith fit around you, then you’re completely missing the point. But, if you are trying to fit your life around God, you’re going to start seeing pieces of you come alive that you never even knew existed.
I’ve see this happen several times in my life. There are times that everything else in life pushes my schedule, drains my energy, and makes me feel like I don’t have time for my faith. Those times I try to fit God into my day when He was there all along and I just needed to acknowledge Him. In those situations, I only find encouragement in centering on God. Giving myself time just to be with God, alongside including Him in every day, is where life is found. The reason is because that is when I’m turning back to God and His words, when I’m obeying Him and repenting.
That’s my example. What’s yours? How do you struggle in this area? Whatever it is, the answer is simple. Return to God and obey Him. Let Him guide you, lead you, and be the truth in your life. Let His will be what determines your day, your month, your year, and your life.
What’s a practical first step? Set aside some time to read your Bible and pray daily. If you’re not intentionally spending time getting to know God, how will you know what He’s trying to tell you? Once you’ve learned to listen to Him, then you need to follow through with obeying Him. That’s where the magic happens. The difference comes when God is allowed to make a difference in you.
So, don’t be like Sardis. Being half dead isn’t appealing. Instead, take Jesus’ advice and continue going back to God for the next step. After all, no one knows the direction life should take better than the One who made life itself.