This Is Why It Is Said—Wake Up, Sleeper!

PRAYER OF CONSECRATION Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.  Abba, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Abba, we belong to you.  Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.  Ephesians 5:14 This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” CONSIDER THIS I say it every single day and just about everywhere I go. Some think I made it up as my catchphrase or calling card. Well, I’m pleased to say, I did not. This is the unadulterated, unvarnished, unstoppable Word of God—Ephesians 5:14, to be precise. Wake up, sleeper! Rise from the dead! And Christ will shine on you. It’s why we changed the name of these daily writings from the Daily Text to the Wake-Up Call. And it’s why this daily ministry has grown from a little devotional thought to a full-fledged daily meeting with the Lord of the church—Jesus Christ.  Every morning, it brings me great joy to speak these words into the microphone—straight from the Holy Spirit through my heart to yours: Wake up, sleeper! Rise from the dead! And Christ will shine on you. Yes, I said microphone. I know the Wake-Up Call comes to your email inbox, and many have not yet discovered that there is a recorded version included in the email. It is also available on all the podcast platforms. (Here are links for Apple and Spotify.) It brings the meeting dynamic to life as we read, ruminate, rememberize, research, and rehearse the Word of God in the presence of Jesus together. I can feel the Holy Spirit joining us in the bond of fellowship the Scriptures call koinonia. Now, back to our text. This little text—Ephesians 5:14—was a saying of the earliest churches in the world. How do I know? Let me give you the full text of the verse and even the biblical layout: This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Did you catch those first five words? This is why it is said. This was a regular greeting among the followers of Jesus in the earliest days. It’s why everywhere I go I like to begin anything I say publicly with these words: Wake up, sleeper! Rise from the dead! And then I go quiet. I want to see who in the crowd is a part of our Sower Nation, our Wake-Up Call Fellowship. They will be the ones who shout back: And Christ will shine on you! I like how it formed a script for the first Christians and now for us. That's the goal, isn't it? For Scripture to become our script? This happens as we lift it out of the book and script it into our everyday lives. I wonder how your New Year—New Word might be crafted in such a way that you could share it back and forth with a friend or family member.  Back to our morning meeting with Jesus. You may not realize how these thirteen words actually shape the agenda of the Wake-Up Call each day. Those first three words, “Wake up, sleeper,” issue the invitation to consecration. Those next four words, “Rise from the dead,” demarcate the way of transformation. And the last six words, “And Christ will shine on you,” sound the call for demonstration. And that, my friends, is the substance of the Christian life: Consecration. Transformation. Demonstration. It bears remarkable trinitarian consonance and coherence.  We open with a prayer of consecration unto the Father: Wake up, sleeper! Next, we dive into the transformational waters of the deep end of the pool of the Word of God the Spirit of God—where Jesus, the Son, teaches us to walk on water: Rise from the dead! Finally, we gather up our seeds and head to the fields to sow for awakening all day long, participating in the demonstrative life of the Holy Spirit: And Christ will shine on you!  THE PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION Lord Jesus, you are the Word of God made flesh. And as such you are the Light of the world.  Indeed, thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path. Would you lead me into this literal reality—your Word becoming the illuminating light of my life?  Would you highlight a verse for me that it might become—over the course of this year—an illuminating constellation of revelation and transformation for my soul?  It will be for your glory, for others' gain, and for my good.   Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be. World without end, amen! Amen!