The advent of cell phones has rendered many products either completely obsolete or no longer as essential as they once were. Here are some examples: cameras, calendars, pens, notepads, maps, photo albums, calculators, envelopes, compasses, fax machines, CD players, radios, televisions, and watches.
One other item that can be added to this list is the alarm clock. Phones can be set to alarm at whatever time you need. However, I have observed their ineffectiveness in my own home, particularly as it relates to their purpose of waking up children, because:
o The volume is too soft (What’s the point if the children can’t hear it?)
o The alarm sounds too soothing, too musical, too mellow (Rather than wake them up, it has lulled them back to sleep, or not woken them up at all.)
o The phone’s battery died overnight, so the alarm, of course, didn’t go off.
o The phone was forgotten on vibrate, so the vibrate mode did not wake up the sleepers.
o The alarm was set for PM instead of AM, so it did not ring.
So, for these reasons, I have a liking for the good old-fashioned alarm clock that ensures that you wake up with a ring that will abruptly end any dreams that you were having. My wife had one of these clocks in her dorm at college, and when it rang, it would wake up everybody on the floor. One day, she came to her dorm and realized that it had disappeared. And she has never seen it again since then.
Alarm clocks are intended to get our attention. To wake us out of sleep. To alert or remind us of an important event. To call us to action before it is too late.
In the book of Zephaniah, the prophet sounds an alarm to the nation of Israel, calling them to respond to God’s message through the prophets, repent of their sins, and turn from their wicked ways before it is too late.
Zephaniah 2:1-3 says, “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’S anger come upon you. Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger.”
Just as God sounded the alarm back then, He is sounding the alarm today. He wants humanity to wake up to the dangers of sin before it’s too late. He wants born-again believers who have become nonchalant to wake up and get busy about fulfilling His purpose while there is time.
In some cultures, being on time means arriving precisely when the event is supposed to start. Thus, many events are often late.
Often, the approach is the same when turning to God. Yet, God wants us to be ready in time. And because we don’t know God’s timeline, the alarm is being sounded now.
The consequences of being late in responding to God’s call are devastating. So, get ready in time!