“Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.” Isaiah 26:19 (ESV)
“…But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:13-14 (ESV)
Each night we go to sleep, submitting ourselves to the will of God, not knowing how, when, or how we will ever awake. The last two mornings God has fascinated me with this repeating symbol of his waking my soul to the light of Christ. Every morning he calls to us with new mercies saying “child arise” (Luke 8:54) and we wake from our slumber, reminded that he HAS awaken us from the sleep of sin and death, and has “shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor 4:5 ESV). What a refreshing two mornings they have been, stumbling into the light, hungry to discover what adventure he has designed for today.
In the song “Come Awake” David Crowder puts it like this: (and now I listen to it as I listen to The Word in the morning)
“Come awake
From sleep, arise
You were dead
You’ve come alive
Wake up wake up
Open your eyes
Climb from your grave
Into the light
Bring us back to life”
Now I am going to sleep, eager to awake tomorrow, reminded that I have life in his name. (John 20:31)
