Pastor's Pen: Sleepers Awake

Every morning, people arise ready to face a new day. They make the coffee, check the news, and make their morning jog before the darkness turns to light. Then, there are the rest of us. Morning comes as an unwelcome intrusion into our rest. When the alarm sounds, we amazingly complete complex mathematical calculations to determine if we have time for ten more minutes of sleep. Even the most chipper morning person I know occasionally reaches for the snooze bar. Simply put, waking up is hard to do.

At least once a year in our house, we change our alarm. We get accustomed to the bells and whistles of one and need another. Thankfully, plenty of inventors are not content to let sleeping dogs lie. I read recently about an alarm clock that launches three puzzle pieces into the air when the alarm sounds. The sleeper must locate the pieces and place them in the correct order before the snooze bar will end the annoying sound.

Why do some of us have so much trouble waking up? Some say that we are overworked.

Others say the issue is related to genetics. Still others argue that we spend too much time on screens. Personally, I think that I’m like that little kid who doesn’t want to go to bed. I think I might miss something exciting. I greedily hold onto yesterday, trying to stretch it out.

We have a tendency to do the same in our spiritual lives. We want the love of God. We desire a life motivated by hope. We have experienced the grace found in Jesus Christ. However, we still hold onto former desires and priorities. We are not ready to be transformed. We cling to old behaviors and attitudes not consistent with our new lives in Christ. When the call comes on Easter morning, we reach for the snooze bare, exhausted.

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This does not mean that we add a religious category to an already busy “to-do” list. Instead, our list becomes transformed. We leave behind those things unpleasing to our Savior, and we do everything from this day forward to the glory of God in Jesus Christ.

Grace & Peace,

James Hodsden