Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Ephesians 5:14 ESV
When I have to wake up to do something I'm not particularly looking forward to, I become the snooze queen. My former roommates can attest to the fact that I am a champion snoozer even at baseline: not a morning goes by where I don't press my snooze button at least once or twice. This morning was one of those mornings for me - the prospect of waking up and studying Pharmacology for 6 hours just did not seem that appealing. After my 4th snooze, I finally dragged my butt out of bed and to a coffee shop where I (surprisingly) became engrossed in my studies. I sort of inwardly chuckled to myself as I thought "Betsy - if you just got up and got to it in the first place, it wouldn't be nearly as painful!" For me, waking up is often the hardest part.
Confession Saturday: I can be a spiritual snoozer. Maybe you think this is taking the analogy too far, but hear me out: there are so many times in my life where I spend a prolonged period of time being frustrated while I put off having real talk with God, only to have an awesome experience connecting with Him and His truths when I finally "wake up." I build things up in my head, and my life becomes about worrying about what I'm going to do instead of just doing it. A wise friend of mine said that we often have to "act ourselves into feeling" - I think that is so true for me when it comes to "waking up" spiritually! My challenge for us today is to stop snoozing - to begin to wrestle with the spiritual issues that bother us that we avoid thinking about and to approach the Lord in prayer even when we don't quite feel it. For me, scripture and music can both be things that give me a little jolt (think of it as spiritual coffee!), so I wanted to share some of my favorites with you all!
Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Romans 13:11-12 ESV
Awake, awake,
put on your strength, O Zion;
put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
for there shall no more come into you
the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
be seated, O Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
Isaiah 52:1-2 ESV
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
Isaiah 60:1 ESV
And some tunes:
Have an awake and alive Saturday!
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