Our two year old, Enoh, is close to being potty trained. But he's not quite there yet. So every opportunity I have to help him remember to go to the bathroom is a valuable one. For example, today, after his nap I said: "Enoh, what's the first thing we have to do after our nap?" After pausing to rub his eyes, he responded with enthusiasm: "Wake up!"
Unable to correct him, I laughed and admitted his answer was better than the one for which I had devised the question. As I sat and waited for him to finish his business I began to think about the implications his response had on my life. So I went to the revelation of Truth itself and found this written in Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus: "Wake up sleeper..."
As a strong believer in the fact that there's "no text without context" I backed up a bit to find out what it was that Paul was getting at here.
He's talking about being visible. How are we supposed to be visible if we are not in the light? And how are we supposed to be in the light? By waking up!
It turns out that rather than waxing theological here, Paul gets into some pretty practical stuff:
- make the most of every opportunity
- don't be foolish
- give thanks
- submit to one another
Then he goes on to talk to wives, husbands, parents and children in the passage that includes the warning for fathers; "do not exasperate your children".
What's the point? It's only after we've woken up that we're able to fulfill these proper patterns of behavior. Though "being children of the light" is a very spiritual matter, it leads to a very practical Christian lifestyle.
Enoh was right, he did have to wake up in order to fulfill what it was I wanted him to do. Funny how a child can bring out truth at the most unexpected times.
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