We should pray.
Dear God, please give us focus. Give us your Spirit. Give us understanding. And please help us. Amen.
How does Scripture speak on the topic of being sober?
1 Thessalonians 5
“Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” :)
Notice the vast difference painted in this word picture.
Dark Light
Night Day
Drunken Sober
Sleep Activated
When was that season of life when you were the most alert?
What year were you most sober, most productive, most focused, most fixated on pleasing GOD and serving OTHERS? Well beyond self.
God wants to help me live a sober-minded and ultra-productive gospel-exploding lifestyle!
100 yeas from now, all that matters is where we live: WITH God in Heaven or without Him in Hell. That’s a sobering thought. I want you to experience the absolute best eternity possible. Not just graduate into the presence of God, but walk in with streaming colors, Magna Cume Laude. Wow, did you knock it out. “That you receive a FULL reward.” That’s not possible without being sober.
Sober.
Why a word-study on this simple word?
Stay tuned and you’ll discover the excellency of meaning God infused into this small but powerful concept!
Bible definition before the English dictionary definition:
Blending of both definitions becomes beautiful, however, we give priority to God’s opinion first. :)
Let's unpack the box, shall we?
Bible word definition for sober means:
to be of sound mind
to be in one's right mind
to put a moderate estimate upon one's self, think of one's self soberly
to curb one's passions …
Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. Titus 2:6.
It’s a mindset.
Scripture use-case context:
1 Timothy 3
A bishop then must be … vigilant, sober … Even so must their wives be grave, … sober, faithful in all things.
Vigilant = vision = watchful. Close word-association with being sober.
Qualification of a leader.
Titus 2
That the aged men be sober
That they may teach the young women to be sober
Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.
1 Peter 1:13
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
4:7
But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
I just want to punch the devil straight in the left nostril every day one time!
That’s not possible apart from gospel delivery! You deliver the gospel ... that’s a direct shot to the snot box of your chief Adversary.
—-
Now blending above definition with Webster’s 1828, chew on it. Focus on the handling one this single word for a few moments. Please enjoy.
2. Not intoxicated or overpowered by spiritous liquors; not drunken.
3. Not mad or insane; not wild or heated with over-passion; having the regular exercise of acool dispassionate reasoned temper.
4. Regular; calm; not under the influence of undue passion; as sober judgment; a man in his sober senses.
5. Serious; solemn;
Will I live life today drunk or sober?
What is the opposite of sober? That’s not me!
Does God want me sober or not?
What is one benefit of a sober lifestyle? Go ahead, please fill in the blank. You can generate ONE benefit. Pause to ponder …
______________________________
What is sober thinking?
What are the natural-man alternative that opposes my sobriety?
Any long-term distraction away from my Divine purpose … disturbs my sobriety.
2 Corinthians 5:13 (KJV)
“For whether we be beside ourselves … or whether we be sober”
The opposite of sober is a person being beside themselves. Like operating outside normal range. Outside of your head. Crazy level. Living outside our natural body. Imagining we are someone else … like a caricature in a movie. Or a first-person immersive 3D video game. Pretending I am not me anymore. Which is certainly fun for a while. But can become intoxicating as an escape mechanism … to get me away from the real purpose of functional life.
What are some natural adversaries to living sober?
Entertainment. In moderation, perfectly fine. Not too much too often.
Surely we are drawn toward binge-watching an entire series of episodes on Prime or Netflix, or your streaming service. Veg out. Right? That is entertainment overload. Unplug from sober living and experience a state of ecstasy, pretending to live in alternative reality.
What areas of my life do I need to sober-up so I can become more useful for God and His gospel?
Perhaps Education … forms an addiction. Education can become a form of intellectual anti-sobriety. I become unsteady, inebriated with steady shoving more and more thoughts into my head that don't really belong there. Over-educated.
Scripture defines these people as:
“Ever learning and never able to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” Ever and never. Becomes a loop.
Instead, focus on truth.
Truth puts you into action.
Truth is unavoidable decision-making.
If this is true, I simply MUST do something about it.
Sober. Not becoming overly-consumed with …
Thrills and exploration. Travel can become a toxin.
We can naturally feel a high from going on adventure.
Go somewhere. See new things. Meet new people. Then we go again. Eventually we get to hunting for that burst of feeling. Doped-up on seeking “newness”. Travel til there is no more new things to see!. Talk til there are no more introductions to be made. Immerse one’s self in different cultures until the jolt wears off. It’s possible to get drunk on too many vacations. “Where are you going?” Across the world … again. Gotta go chase it. Get away from THIS place. Get outside the norm. Away from the steady rhythm of a sober, productive daily life. Break up the monotony, surely once in a while a change of scenery is healthy for the soul. But are we addicted to the thrill of going somewhere besides where we belong?
Was the earthly goal of Jesus Christ in the flesh …was it simply to travel to every country in the known world, just for fun?
Sober-minded.
Not on vacation 1/3rd of life.
God asks you when you get to Heaven, “What did you do down there?”
“I saw everything! I just wandered around and had new experiences all the time!”
Eww-kay. Not approved. No reward for that.
Sober means focused, fixated on what truly matters long term in the eyes of God.
1 Thessalonians 5:6 (KJV)
Therefore let us not sleep, … but let us watch and be sober.
The opposite of sleep is alert.
We can get drunk on sleep. Sleep is great and necessary. Unplug from life. For a few hours, recharge. Body needs rest. Evidence suggests. Yet we can become drunk on slumber. Over-kill that snooze button. Over-sleep the morning away.
Drunk on sloth. Slow and floating. Unable to complete sentences due to lack of engagement. Disconnected from capacity to move one's hands toward the work. I just cannot seem to move myself to action today. Sluggin’ it. Slow. Foggy. Laid back. Slothy movements. Slow of speech. Reduced energy on purpose.
What’s the Bible answer? Awake to righteousness!
Now is the Source of your salvation [Jesus] nearer than when you first believed. His arrival is imminent and getting closer.
If every believer in every city produced just one minute of spiritual, gospel-focused content per day, every day, how many days would it take to saturate the whole world with the knowledge of the gospel?
Produce content. Share it.
Eventually everybody hears it.
Some will react to this suggestion with, "Well, I’d be embarrassed.”
I’d be embarrassed not to. Won't be embarrassed in Heaven for sharing the gospel. Not embarrassed before God. Not embarrassed before my friends. Even my friends who willfully select Hell as their final destination will know they had a true friend on earth who at least cared enough to warn them.
Produce gospel content.
You know why the vast majority of precious people in this world are currently dying and falling headlong into the bottomless pit of destruction without Christ?
Because too many believers are drunk on the world. Too many Christians are consumed with consuming content that does not empower their spiritual walk and their spiritual talk to tell the world that Jesus saves.
Christianity is drunk on the world.
We love the things of this world. So we watching it slide into Hell, without the gospel.
God needs sober soul-winners.
Set your affections on things above >>> NOT on things of earth.
Determine the ultimate goal. God’s goal.
I cannot achieve God's goal for my life by avoiding the gospel.
Sobering statistics:
Death wakes people up. Go to a funeral. Face your mortality. You’ll think about the gospel.
3 Gen Max. Go 3 generations max into the near-future [kids, grandkids + great-grand kids] and the memory of you and all you did here becomes meaningless. No one, past your great grandkids. the 3rd generation out, will think about you for even 1 second per day. How often do you think about your great-great grandpa? Zero. You have therefore 3 generations max to matter. That’s it. Done. Makes you think about doing something that endures as an eternal legacy. You will have zero eternal legacy apart form helping someone discover eternal life in Christ, through the gospel. And they can be your eternal friends.
Life is a vapor. Your life is a waft in the wind. A slight puff of smoke. A blip on the screen. Which appeareth for a SHORT time and then vanisheth away.
Eternity is everything. Eternity is the sobering target. There is no awesome eternity apart from the gospel.
God expects you to do something with the gospel.
Not doing that specific something will disappoint God.
Our greatest fear should be … not fulfilling our God-given purpose.
Want to establish a sober spiritual mindset?
Make a mantra.
Motivate yourself.
Develop a short code for deep action.
Move yourself.
When I was in high school, a couple words resonated so completely that I was moved to maximum effort. Even effort beyond my natural capacity.
These words moved me a lot:
S.T.A.T.E. state
Many high school kids are focused on their athletic career.
Sober minded. Fixated. Laser tight long range future vision. The current workload became light and easy, and worthy based upon a mutually agreed-upon goal.
To activate this illustration, write down one word that will keep your mind fixed on the gospel.
Name your nemesis: Aaron Craig
Define the adversary. Know your opposition. Train harder than he does. If you have zero resistance, you are doing zero.
I have demons hunting me down. Attempting to assassinate my potential. Derailing the God-given ministry opportunities in my near future. There is strong demonic opposition : war in my head.
I can take you down
One action possible. Believe you can do something. I can breathe. I can think. I can pray. I can read. I can trust. I can express gratitude. I can do the one thing the devil does not want done. I can promote the gospel. I can encourage others to share truth. I can ask God to give me worthy content for distribution daily, consistently. Dear God, use me; funnel-flow through me.
Satan hates gospel
Know what your enemy hates. If you don’t know what’s good, at least you should know good is in the general opposite direction of evil. If I know what evil wants, and I know what evil hates then it’s nearly safe to just do the opposite. The devil hates Christians winning. The devil hates Jesus. The devil hates his children, leaving his house, divorcing him… Abandoning their hellish home, and converting by faith, to new birth to their new home and a new Heavenly Father. The devil hates that. He hates losing.
Life everlasting
This is the solution. Focus on the outcome. Work is outcomes. You will do the work if you see the outcome. If you’re gonna participate in any endeavor… you should know what the definition of success looks like. Here in the Christian walk, success is simply introducing people to eternal life.
Determine a decade of dedication.
If you are going to achieve true success at anything, dedicate to do it for a decade. Minimum. What is one ☝️ singular action you promise God and you commit yourself to do … every working day for a decade?
Produce gospel content.
Shorts
Reels 🎞️
Verses
Podcasts
Something.
Share it. Tell it.
Let’s win the world to Jesus.
Sober-Minded Gospel Action