Are You Awake?
Are You Awake? Living as Children of Light in a Dark World
There's a beloved Christmas movie that perfectly captures an absurd yet strangely relatable scenario. A young boy, banished to the attic after misbehaving, somehow sleeps through the complete chaos of his entire extended family preparing for a trip to Paris. Alarm clocks blare, people rush frantically through the house, shuttles arrive, and everyone departs—yet he remains blissfully unconscious. The result? He wakes up home alone.
We laugh at the impossibility of sleeping through such commotion. Yet this humorous scenario mirrors a sobering spiritual reality: many of us are sleeping through the most significant moments of our lives, oblivious to the spiritual warfare, kingdom opportunities, and urgent calling that surrounds us daily.
The Wake-Up Call
In Romans 13:11-14, the Apostle Paul issues a clarion call to the church: "Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep. For now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light."
Paul's urgency rings across the centuries. He's writing to believers—people already saved—yet he recognizes they need to wake up. Salvation isn't just a one-time decision; it's a daily awakening to the reality of who we are in Christ and the mission we've been given.
We live in what theologians call "the church age"—the season between Christ's ascension and His promised return. This isn't break time. This is the era of the church militant, the church at work, the church on the clock. Jesus has promised He's coming back, and every day that passes brings us closer to that glorious reunion.
The question is: Are we awake for it?
Why We Sleep
Spiritual slumber has many causes. Sometimes we're simply too contented—like someone who's eaten a big Thanksgiving meal and can't resist the couch. We've gotten comfortable in our faith, settled into routines, and lost the edge of urgency that once defined our walk with Christ.
Other times, we're overindulged. We've invested so much energy in worldly pursuits, negative influences, and distractions that we have no perspective left. We've been sidetracked so often that we can't see any other way forward.
And sometimes, we're just lazy. We lack the urgency and concern to even stir and see what the commotion is about. We hit the spiritual snooze button repeatedly, delaying what we need to do for the kingdom and for Christ.
But believers don't have the luxury of living in a world of chaos while being the ones who keep sleeping. The times demand our attention.
Discerning the Times
Paul tells us to "know the time." This isn't about predicting the date of Christ's return or mapping current events onto prophecy charts. It's about understanding the season we're living in and recognizing our responsibility within it.
We live in a difficult season. Everywhere we look, someone is protesting something, arguing about everything, and declaring their personal truth as ultimate. The cultural landscape shifts beneath our feet daily. Yet this is precisely the moment when the church must be most awake.
The expansion of God's kingdom in this age is the responsibility of the saved. We are the lights of the world, and we need to put our candles in the window. We have an opportunity to live for Jesus when it's not popular, not easy, not convenient—and that opportunity is fleeting.
Every day we live as Christians, we're getting closer to the consummation of our salvation. We can't afford to sit back and coast. We must wake up.
Laying Aside the Deeds of Darkness
Paul doesn't mince words about what needs to go. He lists specific "deeds of darkness" that have no place in the life of an awakened believer:
Carousing and drunkenness—living without restraint, throwing wisdom to the wind, celebrating ourselves with reckless abandon.
Sexual promiscuity and sensuality—embracing the lie that if it feels good, we should do it, regardless of God's design for sexuality and relationship.
These sins are obvious, and most believers would quickly condemn them. But Paul doesn't stop there. He adds two more that are perhaps more insidious because they're more acceptable, more hidden, more prevalent even within the church:
Strife and jealousy—rivalry, selfish ambition, envy. The quiet sins that whisper, "Why not me? I deserve that platform. They're not as good as I am." The sins that manifest in gossip disguised as prayer requests, in complaints dressed up as recommendations, in demands masked as preferences.
These are the sins that destroy unity, breed discord, and turn churches into battlegrounds rather than sanctuaries. When we exalt ourselves to the point that our opinions matter more than everyone else's, when we feel we must be heard no matter what, when we dehumanize others to elevate ourselves—that's strife. That's envy. That's spiritual sleep.
All these deeds of darkness share a common root: the exaltation of self over Christ.
Putting On the Armor of Light
The remedy is simple but profound: "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts."
If we're going to engage the world, we have a choice about what we're going to wear. We can put on self, making ourselves the judge and executioner. Or we can put on Christ, filtering everything through the lens of Jesus—thinking like Christ, engaging people like Christ, living in this world not as we would have it, but as Jesus would have us in it.
This is the armor of light. This is how we walk as children of light. This is what it means to be awake.
When we put on Christ, we prioritize His mission over our comfort. We seek to understand how our part in fulfilling the Great Commission matters. We stop waiting for someone else to start something and recognize that the work will only be accomplished when all of us work together.
The One Question That Changes Everything
Here's a sobering thought experiment: If the night ended now and daylight came in the next moment, what would you change? If you knew for certain that in the next moment you would stand face to face with Jesus, would you look at your life and say, "I wish I could change that real quick"?
If there are things in that category—habits you'd want to hide, relationships you'd want to fix, words you'd want to take back, time you'd want to redeem—then it's time to wake up. It's time to put those things off and put on the things that will allow us to stand before Christ without shame or embarrassment.
This won't be a one-time decision. It will be an every-day, moment-by-moment choice to live awake, to live alert, to live for Christ.
The Story Only You Can Write
The only story we know about that boy who slept through the chaos is the story that emerged from his failure to wake. What story are people seeing from your life? Is it the story of someone sleeping through the most important mission in human history? Or is it the story of someone fully awake, fully engaged, fully alive in Christ?
The times are short. The night is ending. The day is coming. There's work to be done, people to reach, believers to build up, and a Savior to glorify.
It's time to wake up.
We laugh at the impossibility of sleeping through such commotion. Yet this humorous scenario mirrors a sobering spiritual reality: many of us are sleeping through the most significant moments of our lives, oblivious to the spiritual warfare, kingdom opportunities, and urgent calling that surrounds us daily.
The Wake-Up Call
In Romans 13:11-14, the Apostle Paul issues a clarion call to the church: "Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep. For now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light."
Paul's urgency rings across the centuries. He's writing to believers—people already saved—yet he recognizes they need to wake up. Salvation isn't just a one-time decision; it's a daily awakening to the reality of who we are in Christ and the mission we've been given.
We live in what theologians call "the church age"—the season between Christ's ascension and His promised return. This isn't break time. This is the era of the church militant, the church at work, the church on the clock. Jesus has promised He's coming back, and every day that passes brings us closer to that glorious reunion.
The question is: Are we awake for it?
Why We Sleep
Spiritual slumber has many causes. Sometimes we're simply too contented—like someone who's eaten a big Thanksgiving meal and can't resist the couch. We've gotten comfortable in our faith, settled into routines, and lost the edge of urgency that once defined our walk with Christ.
Other times, we're overindulged. We've invested so much energy in worldly pursuits, negative influences, and distractions that we have no perspective left. We've been sidetracked so often that we can't see any other way forward.
And sometimes, we're just lazy. We lack the urgency and concern to even stir and see what the commotion is about. We hit the spiritual snooze button repeatedly, delaying what we need to do for the kingdom and for Christ.
But believers don't have the luxury of living in a world of chaos while being the ones who keep sleeping. The times demand our attention.
Discerning the Times
Paul tells us to "know the time." This isn't about predicting the date of Christ's return or mapping current events onto prophecy charts. It's about understanding the season we're living in and recognizing our responsibility within it.
We live in a difficult season. Everywhere we look, someone is protesting something, arguing about everything, and declaring their personal truth as ultimate. The cultural landscape shifts beneath our feet daily. Yet this is precisely the moment when the church must be most awake.
The expansion of God's kingdom in this age is the responsibility of the saved. We are the lights of the world, and we need to put our candles in the window. We have an opportunity to live for Jesus when it's not popular, not easy, not convenient—and that opportunity is fleeting.
Every day we live as Christians, we're getting closer to the consummation of our salvation. We can't afford to sit back and coast. We must wake up.
Laying Aside the Deeds of Darkness
Paul doesn't mince words about what needs to go. He lists specific "deeds of darkness" that have no place in the life of an awakened believer:
Carousing and drunkenness—living without restraint, throwing wisdom to the wind, celebrating ourselves with reckless abandon.
Sexual promiscuity and sensuality—embracing the lie that if it feels good, we should do it, regardless of God's design for sexuality and relationship.
These sins are obvious, and most believers would quickly condemn them. But Paul doesn't stop there. He adds two more that are perhaps more insidious because they're more acceptable, more hidden, more prevalent even within the church:
Strife and jealousy—rivalry, selfish ambition, envy. The quiet sins that whisper, "Why not me? I deserve that platform. They're not as good as I am." The sins that manifest in gossip disguised as prayer requests, in complaints dressed up as recommendations, in demands masked as preferences.
These are the sins that destroy unity, breed discord, and turn churches into battlegrounds rather than sanctuaries. When we exalt ourselves to the point that our opinions matter more than everyone else's, when we feel we must be heard no matter what, when we dehumanize others to elevate ourselves—that's strife. That's envy. That's spiritual sleep.
All these deeds of darkness share a common root: the exaltation of self over Christ.
Putting On the Armor of Light
The remedy is simple but profound: "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts."
If we're going to engage the world, we have a choice about what we're going to wear. We can put on self, making ourselves the judge and executioner. Or we can put on Christ, filtering everything through the lens of Jesus—thinking like Christ, engaging people like Christ, living in this world not as we would have it, but as Jesus would have us in it.
This is the armor of light. This is how we walk as children of light. This is what it means to be awake.
When we put on Christ, we prioritize His mission over our comfort. We seek to understand how our part in fulfilling the Great Commission matters. We stop waiting for someone else to start something and recognize that the work will only be accomplished when all of us work together.
The One Question That Changes Everything
Here's a sobering thought experiment: If the night ended now and daylight came in the next moment, what would you change? If you knew for certain that in the next moment you would stand face to face with Jesus, would you look at your life and say, "I wish I could change that real quick"?
If there are things in that category—habits you'd want to hide, relationships you'd want to fix, words you'd want to take back, time you'd want to redeem—then it's time to wake up. It's time to put those things off and put on the things that will allow us to stand before Christ without shame or embarrassment.
This won't be a one-time decision. It will be an every-day, moment-by-moment choice to live awake, to live alert, to live for Christ.
The Story Only You Can Write
The only story we know about that boy who slept through the chaos is the story that emerged from his failure to wake. What story are people seeing from your life? Is it the story of someone sleeping through the most important mission in human history? Or is it the story of someone fully awake, fully engaged, fully alive in Christ?
The times are short. The night is ending. The day is coming. There's work to be done, people to reach, believers to build up, and a Savior to glorify.
It's time to wake up.
No Comments