AWAKEN THE SLEEPING GIANT!

 

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

 

AWAKEN THE SLEEPING GIANT!

    

Eph 5:14-16

14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

 

          Today is December 7^th and in America it is known as Pearl Harbor Day. It is a day to remember the surprise attack on our naval forces at anchor in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Enough time has elapsed that today’s youth have no real attachment to the date. It is black-and-white history portrayed upon grainy film. The so-called “great generation” is gone and many of the children spawned by returning victors are nearly gone themselves but if this day is remembered rightly, it stirs patriotism and outrage.

 

          The signs of world war were everywhere! Our eyes were on Hitler as he blitzed Europe. We wondered how a nation with such intelligence could blindly follow one so crazed. Japan was expanding by swallowing up smaller Asian countries. England was already fighting for her life, and we were reluctantly shipping supplies. We should have been watching – but we weren’t.

 

          A quote is attributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto as they steamed away from Pearl. The quote is portrayed at the very end of the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora! as: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve." The supposed quotation was abbreviated in the film Pearl Harbor (2001), where it merely reads: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant." Although the quote may well have encapsulated many of his real feelings about the attack, there is no printed evidence to prove Yamamoto made this statement or wrote it down. (Wikipedia)

 

          Paul, in Ephesians 5, warns us that we must be vigilant regarding our enemy, the Devil. The idea is to rouse from a state of false security. The word rendered “circumspectly” is akribos and means “diligently.” The idea is to be on guard against the temptations all around us. “Not as fools, but as wise” needs no explanation.

 

Ps 9:17

17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

 

             Abraham Lincoln was the first President to use the phrase, "This nation under God." It inspired President Eisenhower, in 1954, to add the words "one nation under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. May it always remain so, both officially and literally.

 

Dear Lord, please protect our nation from her leaders. AMEN