The phrase “wake-up call” has evolved in our understanding and usage.

It’s been used to describe a telephone call from the front desk of a hotel, honoring our request to wake us up so as to avoid missing our flight. I’ve heard of college students asking their parents to call them to make sure they don’t sleep through their alarm clock and miss their finals.

But my guess is, when you hear or use the phrase “wake-up call,” what comes to mind is more than telephones waking up sleeping people.

Life sometimes affords proverbial wake-up calls that wake us up from proverbial sleep.

When a person experiences a true wake-up call, it usually comes in the form of an unexpected event that turns their life completely upside-down, such as a trip to a third-world country, a near-death experience, the loss of a scholarship, divorce papers served, an apartment eviction, bankruptcy, or even a stroke.

Wake-up calls are a reality check. They smack us in the face. They get our attention. They can expose things that have been neglected. They can uncover things that have gotten out of control. They can challenge our priorities and behaviors, like the way we use our time and money, and the way we treat others.

Ultimately, wake-up calls give us a glimpse of what might be, showing us that we cannot continue down the same path without causing great harm to ourselves and others.

Wake-up calls demand change and action.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:14-16, “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Be very careful then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

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