Wake up, O sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.
~Ephesians 5:14 (NIV)~

An eight-thousand-foot mountain rising along Highway 40 in northwestern Colorado sparked my imagination as a child. Each time we drove by it, I would try to visualize its namesake—the Sleeping Giant. Squinting, I could see the outline of the giant’s head and body and often envisioned the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk or Gulliver on the island of Lilliput.

As an adult, the sleeping giant became a season in my life as a Christian. In my mid-twenties, I drifted into a deep slumber in my walk with Christ. The distractions of a new career, renovating my house, and keeping up with the Joneses vied for my attention and became my priorities. Out of habit, I attended church during these years but failed to invest my time and heart into my relationship with Jesus. I hobbled through the motions of Christianity.

An Awakened Heart

I later discovered that even during these seasons of our lives, Jesus never gives up on us. He desires to awaken our hearts to Him and once again allow His brilliance to shine on us. He often uses events and circumstances in our lives to serve as an alarm clock. At first, we may only hear a faint beeping and may even try to ignore the alarm. But as it crescendos, we must decide how to address it—either by pushing the snooze button and drifting back into sleep, or arising and starting a new day in our walk with Christ.

I pressed the snooze button for years as I continued to focus on my own ambitions, failing to awaken to Christ’s call for me. Shortly after the birth of my son in my early thirties, I began to rouse from my slumber. As I cradled him in my arms for hours each day, a desire blossomed within me for him to grow up loving Jesus with all his heart, mind, and soul. Slowly, I opened my eyes to Christ’s work around me and began to seek Him. Now, many years later, I no longer see the outline of the sleeping giant in my life.

Are you in a deep sleep in your walk with Christ. I encourage you to listen to Christ’s alarm clock and arise. He yearns to shine on you and bring you back to life. 

Note to My Readers: I wrote today’s devotion more than five years ago. It tells a part of my testimony and how my life was transformed after the birth of my son (in a good way!! :0). This devotion was my first published piece, and it was posted at Christian Devotions in 2011 on my birthday. I pray it blesses you.