When the Alarm Clock Goes Off :: An Introduction

So I’ve blown of the dust from French Pressed Fridays and I’m posting an excerpt from the introduction of a book I’m writing, tentatively titled, When the Alarm Clock Goes Off.

Check it out, critique it, pass it on, and savor it for a little while until the dust settles over French Pressed Fridays until the next edition of WTACGO goes public.

Enjoy.

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Throughout the years, I’ve realized that even though the alarm clock wakes me up, there have been a number of different things that actually get me out of bed. Certain people, opportunities, tensions, or hunger have a way of getting people to rub their eyes, stretch, and roll out of bed. When I was in fifth grade, I had a crush on a girl named Jessica. I got out of bed to go to school so I could see her. I’m pretty sure she got out of bed for the same reason, but I haven’t validated that yet. In high school, I got out of bed so I could play basketball (I would have slept on the basketball court if it was an option). At one period in my life, I got out of bed to study Greek, theology, and church history so I could earn a master’s degree. And for as long as my wife and I are having children, I will spend an innumerable amount of days getting out of bed to change a diaper or feed a hungry baby.

The things that get me out of bed have a way of influencing how I live. Jessica affected my thoughts and my attention span. Seminary induced stress at times and dominated my schedule. So I’m faced with the question every single day, how will I live when the alarm clock goes off? How will I live when I wake up each day? How will I live when a new day begins? All of us have to face these questions everyday whether we want to or not. And we have to face them whether or not we use an alarm clock. Either we are going to go through the day proactively or reactively. Intentionally or passively. Purposefully or wastefully. The way we live and what we live for is our answer to the question.

How will you live when the alarm clock goes off?

When the alarm clock begins to buzz what is getting you out of bed and what are you living for?

A job?

The weekend?

Acceptance and approval?

A degree?

People and popularity?

Wall Street?

A relationship?

Power or pleasure?

Your family?

Money or more possessions?

The things that get us out of bed have a way of influencing how we live throughout the day from Sunday to Saturday. How are the things that get you out of bed influencing your relationship with God? How are they affecting the way you view yourself and all that you’ve been given? How are they changing the way you view and treat everyone around you?

If the things of the day make such a power over us, is there a way to influence the way we live before the day influences us?

Jesus and The Alarm Clock

There’s no clear evidence of the invention or existence of actual alarm clocks in the Bible, but the sun and neighborhood roosters probably served the same purpose. If Jesus were to write this book, He might have entitled it, “When The Rooster Crows Three Times,” or “When The Galilean Sun Shines Through Thatched Roof.” I’m sure whatever title He settled on, it would be perfect and really memorable. He knows a thing or two about the stickiness factor. We haven’t forgotten the names of the first humans He created, have we?

Days before Jesus was crucified, He used prophecy and parable to tell His followers that there would be certain things that would affect how they lived until they died or until He returned.He gave them instructions for the choices they needed to make that would influence the manner in which they lived amidst all that would occur.

The week leading up to Jesus’ death was filled with dramatic moments and poignant teachings. Jesus made a bold statement of that day riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, essentially announcing the arrival of its king. He defended the Jewish temple as a house of prayer by aggressively toppling tables and scattering the merchants who had turned it into a “Den of Thieves.” He taught on faith and prayer, unexpected kingdom citizens, and the pursuit of God’s redemption in the face of continual rejection. As the intensity of the week continued to mount, He would give a final lesson to His disciples, foretelling the near and distant future as well as describing qualities essential for facing what was to come.

Historically, on the Tuesday before Jesus’ crucifixion, He gave a lengthy sermon known as the Olivet Discourse (which can be found in Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; and Luke 21:5-38). This sermon was given days before Jesus’ death and resurrection and almost 50 days before Jesus would ascend back into heaven. Once He left earth, He would be entrusting His mission and ministry into the hands of His followers to take around the world. The contents of this significant set of teachings contain prophecy of the destruction of the Temple of God in Jerusalem and the reality of the second coming of Jesus. It also included three parables told to help prepare the disciples on how to live once Jesus left earth and until He returned.

Or when the alarm clock went off.

[Written and Posted by Todd Lesher 7.9.11]

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