Wake up to truth, don’t be a spiritual sleepwalker

“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead and Christ will shine on you.”

—Ephesians 5:14

As I stand gazing out the kitchen window noticing the lack of movement around the quiet neighborhood, a large lump begins to grow deep within my throat. It seems the whole world is asleep but me.

The moon is still high in the sky on this frigid January morning, casting a shine on a large blanket of snow. Stars are twinkling in the black abyss; the cool air appears to be painting trees with millions of ice crystals. Darkness, stillness and quietness beckon me to retreat to my feather pillow.

But I don’t move. I stand in complete and utter awareness. If everyone else was sleeping, I still didn’t have permission to go back to bed. I have a job to do. In fact, it seems I have many jobs that roll from one into another. In my sorrow, I ponder why I have to get up this early. No one else seems to be up. To ease my guilt, I confirm the birds aren’t even awake! Who could blame them? As I stare out the window, completely validating my edgy and downcast mood, I recognize I am feeling a little alone in a dark and cold city. I shrug my shoulders and surrender to reality.

It was time to get up. I was only wasting time arguing with myself.

To wake or sleep

Have you ever tried to wake up someone who didn’t want to get up, or have you ever been so exhausted that the very last thing in the world you wanted to do was wake up? I assume all of us have had the privilege of being on both sides of this question.

I believe before we were Christians, we were spiritually asleep living in a dream, or even possibly a nightmare. We were not awake to the reality surrounding us; we were unaware of the battle being fought for our souls. We didn’t know the great love our Father had for us and the victory that awaits us in Jesus Christ.

If we are not spiritually awakened and living our lives surrendered to the God, we are living a life of falsehood. Truth is truth, and it will not change. Everything else is bogus. While we live on this earth, we all have some choices to make. What are we going to believe, and who are we going to believe?

Are we going to believe God and agree with his word, recognizing he is the reason we live? Will we accept that we are created to be in fellowship with him and to bring him glory, that we are welcomed into the beloved and are the apple of his eye? Or are we going choose to believe lies from Satan, who is trying to convince everyone there isn’t a purpose for our lives, we’re insignificant to God and there are no real eternal consequences for the way we live our lives?

Hello, people, it is time to wake up! I think the enemy would be happy to fluff our spiritual pillows and have us sleep forever. Why? Because if we wake up to the truth and believe God created us for a great purpose and that he loves us and longs to be in fellowship with us, we will follow him and walk in his ways. We will then share the glorious hope of Jesus Christ with others and be a part of growing the kingdom of God. Do you think the enemy wants this to happen? Not in a million years. So he is trying his best to invite people into spiritual comas, hoping to claim some souls. But remember, we get to choose what and who we are going to believe.

Did you know a Christian can become spiritually sleepy, too? You may be asking yourself what that means. If I am a believer, I am awake to the truth, right? Well, it means we can become so tired, so weary, just plain worn-out from the burdens of this world that we put our heads on the pillow of disbelief or agony and intentionally push the snooze button and sleep again. We can backslide. There is no stagnant time in our Christian walk. We are either moving forward into maturity in Christ or slipping backward. During hard times in our lives, we could look out our spiritual window toward the dark sky of our circumstances and ask, why do I have to get up? We may be tempted to give up on our spiritual walk and join the many sleepwalkers of the world.

When you feel weary, ask Jesus to help you through the difficult season. Your problem is never too big for Christ. Trust him with your life and keep plodding along in your walk of faith, one step in front of another, with Christ by your side. Make a conscious decision to choose to remain spiritually awake and continue on your journey with God. Say it out loud if you need to. Declare it over yourself and keep pressing on. This is what it means to be a warrior in the faith. A warrior for Christ is someone who keeps on fighting the “good” fight (battling for souls), picks up their sword (Bible) and marches out every day for the sake of God’s name, even when it’s hard.

“Warriors arise” is simply a call to stay awake and steadfast. A word of encouragement — you are not alone! Many fellow warriors are encamped around this magnificent Valley; some are on stage, some are on the radio, but most are just normal people going to work every day. They are praying in their cars and sharing the good news of Jesus wherever they go. What a difference they are making. So the promise is true.

Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

Cory Williamson lives in Palmer and is the author of “Warriors Are Made.”