Imagine flying at 10,000 feet through thick clouds with no visible horizon. The pilot looks outside, but there is nothing to see. His senses tell him the plane is flying straight, but his instruments reveal that he is slowly descending and turning. The question is: Which will he trust—his feelings or his instruments?
A pilot flying through thick clouds can’t rely on his feelings. The horizon may appear tilted. His senses may tell him he is flying straight when he is actually descending or turning. Experienced pilots know that trusting their instruments is not a limitation—it is what keeps them on course.
Spiritually, we are navigating a world where our senses can deceive us. The mantra of our culture is captured in an old song by country music singer Barbara Mandrell: “How can it be wrong when it feels so right?”
The assumption is that our feelings determine what is true. If something feels good, feels natural, or feels acceptable, then it must be right.
Yet our feelings can be in direct opposition to the Divine Instrument Panel of God’s Word.
Our text today offers a stark contrast between worldly thinking and the mindset a Christian should possess.
“Therefore, let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:6-8)
The word “sober” is used, not with the warning of refraining from drunkenness, but with the idea of being awake, alert, and attentive. With spiritual eyes opened and hearts made watchful, we can recognize the dangers of the devil’s devious devices.
It is the same word used in 1 Peter 5:8, when the apostle offers this warning:
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
Sober-mindedness is contrasted with a group that is spiritually slumbering. They are pictured as those who are drunken sleepers. Danger is imminent, but they are unaware of it.
The sober-minded are portrayed as “sons of light” and “sons of the day.” We are not to carelessly or blindly glide through life, oblivious to the temptations that lure us into Satan’s traps.
Faith, hope, and love are Divine instruments that guard and guide us through clouds of doubt, storms of adversity, and winds of cultural change.
Faith in God, founded in the promises of His Word, allows us to “walk by faith and not by sight.”
Our hope, anchored in our confidence in Christ and His Divine assurance, keeps us focused on our eternal destination beyond the visible horizon.
God’s love, unconditional, surpassing, and everlasting, soothes the soul, calms our fears, and assures us of our safe arrival in eternity.
This sober-mindedness, of course, does not mean that we walk around with a long face, looking sour and dour. We can be both sober and joyful at the same time as we embrace a Biblical worldview and see life through the lens of an eternal perspective.
This text leads us to draw three important conclusions:
#1 Stay awake to the difference between light and darkness.
As “sons of light,” we are to be different from the “sons of darkness.”
We think differently. We see things differently. We live by different values. We are more concerned about living for the Lord than fitting in with the current culture.
A pilot who ignores his instruments and trusts only his senses will eventually lose his way. Likewise, Christians who allow culture, feelings, or personal desires to override God’s Word will drift spiritually.
#2 Stay alert to the deception of the enemy.
With spiritual eyes enlightened, we are awake not only to evil allurements but also to good things that distract us from better things.
Satan may use distractions, busyness, procrastination, or rationalization to dull our spiritual vision. He understands that a slight deviation from the correct course can eventually lead to a major problem.
That is why we must remain sober-minded and watchful.
#3 Stay focused on the destination.
The overall text reminds us that judgment day is coming. Like Peter, Paul employs the “thief in the night” metaphor to warn disciples not to let their guard down. Not to grow complacent. Not to become self-satisfied.
Rather, stay vigilant. Stay focused. Stay equipped for spiritual warfare with the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of salvation.
One day Christ will return. The clouds will clear. The journey will end. Judgment Day will commence.
Therefore, as Jesus warned, “Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.”
In an intoxicated world filled with distorted values and confused thinking, God calls us to stay sober. Stay awake. Stay watchful.
Because those who trust His Divine Instrument Panel will safely reach their eternal destination.
—Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
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