Day 344: Wake, Not Woke (Romans 13:11

¹¹ Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us walk properly as in the daytime

Romans 13:11–13 (ESV)

Through the Bible: Romans 11-13

In today’s political climate, there aren’t many words with more baggage than the word “woke.” Pastors have shied away from addressing social issues for fear of being labeled with that word. Not only has this hurt our prophetic witness, but it has also marginalized one of the richest metaphors in Scripture: waking up from spiritual slumber.

Long before “woke” became a political slogan, the Bible used waking and sleeping as one of its most urgent invitations. And when Paul writes Romans 13:11, he isn’t talking about politics. He also isn’t talking about the restorative, regenerative sleep every human body needs. What he is talking about is more like spiritual hypothermia—the sluggishness of a soul shutting down.

“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11)

Paul is ringing an alarm clock for believers—not to shame them, but to stir them.

This isn’t the first time Scripture uses the language of waking up. God has always spoken to His people in the rhythms of night and morning.

In Isaiah 60, the prophet announces, “Arise, shine, for your light has come.” God’s people had settled under the heaviness of exile, their hope dimmed, their faith lethargic. Isaiah’s call wasn’t simply “cheer up” — it was “wake up,” because God was already on the move.

Jesus used the same imagery. In Gethsemane, He returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. His words still sting: “Could you not watch with me one hour?” It wasn’t about missing a prayer meeting; it was about missing the moment. The greatest act of redemption in history was unfolding, and His closest friends were too weary to notice.

Paul picks up the theme again in Ephesians 5:14: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” To Paul, waking up is resurrection language — the call to step out of the shadows and into the brightness of Christ’s life.

Whenever God urges His people to wake up, it’s never because He needs our alertness. It’s because He is doing something, the dawn is advancing, and He doesn’t want us to sleep through it.

The Subtle Danger of Spiritual Drowsiness

Spiritual sleep doesn’t begin with rebellion. It begins with routine.

You still believe the gospel, but maybe you stop expecting it to change anything today.

You still pray, but your prayers drift into autopilot.

You still worship, but your heart is half a step behind your mouth.

This kind of drowsiness feels harmless, like dozing off in a recliner on a Sunday afternoon. But Paul says it’s dangerous because it keeps us unaware of the moment we’re in. “You know the time,” he insists. The night is slipping away. The sun is already climbing the horizon.

Paul’s point is not, “Wake up, because things are bad.”

His point is, Wake up, because Jesus is near.

The motivating force of spiritual alertness isn’t fear; it’s hope.

The Nearness of the Dawn

“For salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”

What a breathtaking sentence.

Paul isn’t saying our justification is incomplete. He’s saying the fullness of what God promised—the restoration, the renewal, the return of the King—is closer today than it has ever been.

Every sunrise preaches the same sermon: We are closer to glory than we were yesterday.

This hits harder during Advent. We are in a season of waiting, expectation, longing, and looking for the dawn. It matches the natural season of shorter days and longer nights.

Perhaps it’s no accident that the Winter Solstice—the longest night of the year—is December 21, just four days away from the brightest morning of the liturgical year.

You don’t wake up because you’re afraid of the dark.

You wake up because the day is breaking.

This is the Christian posture. Eyes open. Heart ready. Not panicked. Not clenched. Not hiding from the world, but awake to what God is doing within it.

Learning to Live Awake

So how do we wake up?

Paul tells us in the verses that follow:

Cast off the works of darkness (v. 12): Identify the things that numb you, dull you, or lull you into complacency.

Put on the armor of light (v. 12): Dress for the day you believe is coming, not the night you’re leaving.

Walk properly as in the daytime (v. 13): Live your life with the lights on, with nothing to hide.

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 14): Not performance. Not self-improvement. Not willpower. Jesus.

The Christian life isn’t about staying woke in the cultural sense; it’s about staying awake in the biblical sense—alert to grace, responsive to God’s voice, aware of the hour, hopeful for the dawn.

A Pastoral Word for the Sleepy and the Weary

Maybe this is exactly where you are right now.

Maybe you feel like the year has dulled your senses and dimmed your fire.

Maybe you’re not rebellious—you’re just tired.

Just numb. Just coasting. Just going through the motions.

If that’s you, here’s the good news: God is not scolding you. He’s shaking your shoulder gently.

Wake up.

Rise up.

Look up.

The sky is already turning pink.

Your salvation is nearer than you think.

The King is coming.

It’s time to live awake.

Related Content

• Day 344: Think, Feel, Do (Romans 11:33-35)
• The Israel Trilogy, Part 1: How Odd of God (Romans 9)
• The Future of Israel (Romans 11)
• Day 168: Six Things “Heaping Burning Coals” Could Mean (Proverbs 25:21-22)
• The Love Manifesto, Part 2: Love on the Outside (Romans 12:14-21)

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