Title: Wake Up from Your Sleep
Scripture: Ephesians 5:14
Paul writes these words as if he's speaking directly to someone who's dozing off. "Wake up, sleeper." It's a command, not a suggestion. The Ephesian Christians had started to drift, getting comfortable with the darkness around them. Paul sounds the alarm because spiritual sleep is dangerous. When you're asleep, you can't see what's real. You can't fight what's coming.
The sleeper here isn't just someone who doesn't know Jesus. These are church people who've grown dull to the light. They've started making excuses for sin. They've let the culture's values seep into their thinking. Paul sees them sinking into the same patterns they had before Christ found them. The brightness of the gospel that once blinded them has dimmed to a flicker.
"Rise from the dead." Paul's not talking about physical resurrection here. He's talking about spiritual death that looks like life. When you tolerate sin in your life, you're walking around like a corpse. You breathe, you speak, you function, but you're dead to what matters. Dead men can't see beauty. Dead men can't feel real joy. Dead men don't know they're dead until someone speaks life to them.
The promise is immediate. "Christ will shine on you." Not might shine. Will shine. When you wake up and turn to him, his light hits you instantly. You don't have to clean yourself up first. You don't have to work your way back. You just have to open your eyes and turn your face toward him. The same Christ who called Lazarus from the tomb calls you from your spiritual slumber.
This verse asks you to examine what you've gotten comfortable with. What sin have you started excusing? What darkness have you started calling normal? Maybe it's your temper that you now call "just being honest." Maybe it's your greed that you call "being smart with money." Maybe it's your gossip that you call "prayer requests." Whatever it is, you've fallen asleep to its danger.
Wake up today. Don't hit the snooze button on this command. Name the sin you've been tolerating. Confess it plainly. Turn from it immediately. Ask Christ to shine his light on that dark corner you've been avoiding. His light doesn't just expose. It cleanses. It heals. It gives sight to what you've been missing.
Prayer: Lord, we admit we've fallen asleep to our sin. We've gotten comfortable in the dark. Wake us up. Shine your light on the parts of our lives we've kept hidden. Give us eyes to see what you've saved us from. Give us strength to walk away from what kills us. Help us live as children of light today. Amen.
