Wake Up! (Let’s Get to Work)

It’s wild to say this, but only a week and a half into the new year, and already the headlines feel heavy. Pain. Injustice. Fear. Anger. Suffering. Some of it done in the name of Jesus, and that should grieve every follower of Christ.

There are moments when the world feels so broken that it’s tempting to retreat into comfort, into church bubbles, into a “me and Jesus” kinda faith. But Jesus never called us to a private, silent, hidden discipleship. He called us to be light in darkness. And light that hides isn’t a light at all.

Church, it’s time to wake up.

Not politically. Not culturally. Spiritually.

To wake up means to see the world as Jesus sees it. To feel what breaks His heart. To move when He moves. To love like He loves. Jesus didn’t come just to save souls for heaven… He came to announce and embody the Kingdom of God right here, right now. And He handed that mission to us.

Saved for More Than Ourselves

We often talk about Jesus as Savior, and He is. He rescued us from sin, death, and separation from God. That’s the foundation of everything. But Jesus is also King. And when He saves us, He doesn’t just rescue us, He recruits us.

Paul says it plainly:

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
- Ephesians 2:10

We aren’t saved by our works, but we are saved for works.

As new believers, we focus on what we receive: forgiveness, grace, peace, identity. And that’s beautiful. But maturity means realizing that salvation isn’t just about what God gives us, it’s about what God wants to do through us.

Jesus didn’t just preach the Kingdom, He was the Kingdom in action. He fed the hungry. He healed the sick. He defended the vulnerable. He welcomed the outsider. People believed His words because they saw His works.

And now? We are called to be the Kingdom in action.

Faith That Moves

Prayer is essential. Worship is essential. Scripture is essential. But faith that never moves, never serves, never loves outwardly… Remember what James 2:17 says that kind of faith is dead.

Light is meant to affect darkness. If light stays only where there is already light, it changes nothing. Jesus said:

“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
- Matthew 5:16

Our works are not about showing off. They are about showing God.

We may not be able to change the whole world by ourselves, but we can change someone else’s world. And when the church pools its light together? Darkness can never stand a chance.

The Kingdom Looks Like Action

In Matthew 25, Jesus paints a picture of what He expects from His followers. When He separates the sheep from the goats, the difference isn’t in what they claimed, it’s in what they did.

They fed the hungry.
They gave water to the thirsty.
They welcomed the stranger.
They clothed the naked.
They cared for the sick.
They visited the imprisoned.

And Jesus says, “Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for Me.”

That means when we serve the vulnerable, we are touching Jesus Himself.

Jesus didn’t end His ministry by saying, “Make sure you stay comfortable.”
He said, in effect, “Make sure you love like I loved.”

Waking Up in Our Time

Every generation is tested. Not just by what evil does, but by what good people refuse to do.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said that history will judge not only the cruelty of the bad, but the silence of the good. God allows disruption in our comfort because comfort can make us sleep. And sleeping Christians don’t change anything.

So we ask ourselves:

• Did the pain of this world move me to action, or only to emotion?

• Did it take my eyes off myself long enough to ask God how I can help heal what’s broken?

• Am I willing to be the hands and feet of Jesus in my time?

Church, it’s time to wake up. Christianity isn’t dying because of persecution… It’s being weakened by complacency. Faith without works is useless. And love that never moves is not love at all.

Let’s Get to Work

There is so much to do. And God has already prepared good works for His people to walk in.

Feed the hungry.
Care for the sick.
Welcome the stranger.
Protect the vulnerable.
Give what you can.
Serve where you are.
Love loudly.
Live visibly.

Whatever we do for “the least of these,” we do for Jesus.

So let’s wake up, Church.
Let’s show up.
Let’s love like Jesus, out loud, in public, with our hands and our feet.

Because the world doesn’t just need more words about Jesus.
It needs to see Him… living through us.