Wake Up, O Sleeper!
By Michael Kelley
Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph. 5:11-14).
Two powerful words.
Two words that rouse us from a daze.
Two words that remind us of who we are.
Two words shouted as the light is flipped on.
Wake up.
There are days we walk around in a daze, just going through our day to day lives. There are children to be dropped off. There are deadlines to be met. There are meetings to have and lists to be completed. Then there are TV shows to be watched. There are teeth to be brushed. And then in the morning, there are the same things to be done again.
In fact, the monotony of life can make it feel like we are sleepwalking our way through life, as if there is nothing more going on than what we experience with our five senses. We can fool ourselves into thinking that the here and now is all there is; that life is simply about these every day occurrences; that there is nothing more of consequence for us to be a part of than this.
Into the haze the Spirit of God shouts: Wake up!
And then there are the days when we sin… and we don’t care. The weight of our choices doesn’t press on us and we flippantly and without consideration rebel against the will of God. We stumble through our selfishness, greed and pride. We have no thought of anyone else, and certainly not Jesus.
Again, we find our way sleepwalking through life with no regard for anything more. Anything bigger. Anything more weighty than what the next appointment or meeting or deadline, all the while there is the stuff of heaven jammed into all those seemingly ordinary moments.
Into our complacency the Spirit of God shouts: Wake up!
He shouted it into our faces one time, when we were dead in those transgressions and our sins. And we rose from a life of death. But that’s not the only time he says it. Now, day by day, as we forget who we are and what we’ve been called to, as we are lulled into the myth that this is “just another day,” we hear the words again:
Wake up. Remember what Christ has done. Let the cross define your reality, and live with purpose, intention, and grace. Do not sleepwalk your way through today as if you’ve not seen the light. Wake up.
Michael Kelley is a husband, father of three, author, and speaker from Nashville, TN. His latest book is a year-long family devotional guide called The Whole Story for the Whole Family. Find his personal blog at michaelkelley.co.
