“And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
(Romans 13:11)
Years ago, my daughter stood at the foot of my bed, hands on her hips. I opened one eye.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?” I asked. It was well past midnight, and school awaited in the morning.
“How can I sleep?” she demanded, with the indignation only a sixteen-year-old can muster. “Rose is missing! We need to go find Rose!”
Oh. Bonnie was sleepwalking—and sleeptalking. It happened now and then.
“I don’t know any Rose,” I replied. “And it’s too late to go find anyone.”
“Well,” she said with a dramatic flounce, “I don’t know any Rose either, and I’m still going to go find her!”
With that, she turned and went back to her own room and bed.
Bonnie’s midnight mission makes me smile even now, but it also names something true about all of us: it’s possible to move around, talk, and look awake while actually being fast asleep. Her urgency in the middle of the night—searching for someone she didn’t even know—became a picture of the spiritual drowsiness Paul warns us about. And that brings us straight into Romans 13.
Romans 13 reminds us that we can be physically awake yet spiritually asleep. We may function as Christians—attending church, giving generously, volunteering our time—but are we truly awakened to God’s call?
Paul asks us to recognize the urgency of the times: “Our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (v. 11). We are called to be spiritually alert, ready at any moment to fulfill God’s purposes.
We are exhorted to “put on the armor of light” and to “behave decently, as in the daylight”—living as examples for others to see.
On Sunday, Pastor Brandon reminded us of three truths:
- Recognize the times in which we live.
- What’s done in the dark will always come to light.
- Putting on Jesus will protect you.
Even in perilous times, we can walk with confidence, knowing we are covered by Christ. Like St. Augustine, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk right and talk right.
The morning after Bonnie’s midnight declaration that “Rose was missing,” she remembered nothing of it. Yet the moment became part of our family lore—a reminder that the “missing Rose” could be anyone God places in our path: a neighbor, a friend, or even a stranger. Our task is to notice, to care, and to help—not in our own strength, but in Christ’s.
Paul’s challenge to wake up spiritually brings us full circle: back to Bonnie standing in the doorway, convinced that someone needed to be found.
Her story asks us a question Scripture then answers:
Are we awake enough to notice the people God places on our path?
This week, consider:
- Where might I be spiritually sleepwalking?
- What keeps me from living fully awake to God’s presence?
- Who is the “missing Rose” in my world—someone God may be urging me to notice, love, or encourage?
Spiritual wakefulness is not frantic urgency. It’s steady attentiveness. It’s living with our eyes open, our spirits responsive, and our hearts clothed in Christ.
Prayer
Lord, awaken my heart.
Open my eyes to the needs around me, my ears to Your quiet nudges,
and my spirit to Your presence.
Clothe me with Christ, guard me with light,
and guide me to the “Roses” You’ve placed in my path.
Amen.
