“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14

Have you ever fallen asleep while reading?  You know, you’re reading a book in bed and the next thing you know you wake up, and it’s ten or twelve minutes later, and the book is now your lap!  So you get the message that your body is trying to tell you and you put the book down and turn off the light and go to bed.

What about the times that you’re perfectly awake and all of the sudden you realize that although you’ve been reading the words, your brain has been daydreaming somewhere else for the last few minutes and you cannot remember anything that you read?  This often occurs to me, and I have to turn back a page or two, locate the last passage which I remember and start over again.

Have you ever considered that a Christian can be in that “awake but asleep” mode with regard to a daily walk with Christ?  You may be walking through life, with opportunities to express the gospel of Christ all around you, and yet you fail to recognize them.  You may be attending worship service and small group Bible study, but later on you don’t really remember much about what was said or taught.

The Lord wants to use His people.  He has tremendous things in store for those who love Him and are called by His name.  But we’ve got to train ourselves to put down the distractions and pay attention to the things that are most important.  It’s like reading that book, but not paying attention to it.  We show up for church.  We go to Sunday School class.  We sit in the sanctuary for worship.  But maybe we’ve unintentionally checked out - spiritually asleep.  

If there is a change in your life that the Lord is calling you to make, I encourage you to wait no longer.  Commit to having a consistent and meaningful prayer life.  Commit to having a consistent and meaningful Bible study.  Commit to participating in consistent and meaningful ministries and mission opportunities.  Desire to become obedient to our Lord.  In return for your obedience, He promises blessings which you cannot imagine!  So WAKE UP!

Blessings,

Pastor Bruce

Bruce.cullom@gmail.com