Telling college students to wake up at 10 a.m. is sometimes necessary.
But Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, meant something a little deeper when he said that to Union students at chapel Wednesday.
Floyd said now is a decisive moment in human history, citing Romans 13:11, “Besides this, knowing the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.”
God strategically placed students at this moment to live so they can “wake up,” be deliberate with their lives and make a difference, Floyd said. Referencing 1 Chronicles 12:32, which describes men who “understood the times,” he explained that because the men understood the significance of the moment, they did what they had to do.
Floyd made three calls to action. The first was for students to come together now, joining in visible union, in extraordinary prayer for spiritual revival in their lives, church and university. He challenged students to allow God to be present in their lives so they can spark an awakening in America.
“Prayer is not an action in your life. Prayer is your greatest action in your life,” he said. “There is no great movement of God that has ever occurred that has not been first been preceded by the extraordinary prayer of God’s people.”
The second call to action was that students not “sit by culturally,” but would “rise up courageously” as the time demands.
The third call was for students to stand up and go to action with a deep sense of urgency in their lives, church, university and future.
“You have one shot at your life, just one,” he said. “And I want to challenge you today to take it and you live it with urgency.”
