Pope Francis – Wake Up – The Album Devoنموونە

Waking Up

by Matt Maher

Pope Francis’ “Wake Up!”Album Track #7: “WAKE UP! GO! GO! FORWARD!”

Recently, I was out on tour. On the bus were the “usual suspects” - my band and my crew. However, during this tour, my brother and my 4 year old son, Conor, joined me. I love traveling with my son. His sense of adventure is contagious, his imagination is always active out on the road. Whether it’s venturing into a new city, or a new venue or a new room of people each day. One of my favorite parts of him being on this trip with me was in the morning, watching him wake up every morning. Like any child, his first waking moments are groggy, confused and innocently curious. His favorite thing to do each morning, after he realized he was safe, with me, on the bus, was to open the shade of the back lounge where we were sleeping. Watching his eyes transition from the sleepy, to the confused, to a curious wonder towards the new environment he saw out of the window was amazing. Even more touching was his desire to share all the wondrous thoughts and questions with me, “ Dada - where are we? Do you see those trees? What’s over that fence?” As a father, it brings me so much delight to see the wonder in my son, but it delights me so much more when he wants to share his wonder.

It made me think of what God, our Father, might desire for us, His children; how every morning is filled with possibilities and wonder. We wake up to a clean slate, a brand new day. We have no idea what is in front of us, but as we approach each new day, do we want to share the wonder we have back with God? We are told in God’s Word that His mercies are new every morning (LAM 3:22-23). That means that God has allowed us to WAKE UP!, and He is not sitting there thinking about the troubles of yesterday. He is not holding a grudge over us for our wrongdoings from before. In this Year of Mercy, it’s important to remember that we are invited to humbly accept His mercy, not just one morning. Every morning we can live in the wonder of the landscape that is the mercy of God.

As the Scripture beckons, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!” (EPH 5:14 NASB), we have the opportunity to joyfully enter into each day, by the mercy shown us (ROM 11:30) and take on the responsibility to “be vigilant, not to allow the pressures, the temptations and the sins of ourselves or others to dull our sensitivity to the beauty of holiness, to the joy of the Gospel”; we have the opportunity to join in God’s work and in God’s love and mercy for His body, His people. To share it with wonder so that our “friends, neighbors, countrymen, everyone on this great continent, may now receive the mercy of God.” (ROM 11:31).

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Since his 2008 major label debut, recording artist, songwriter and worship leader Matt Maher has become a staple in the artistic and songwriting community. An eight-time GRAMMY® nominee, he has garnered multiple radio successes writing and recording songs like “Lord, I Need You,”

“Your Grace Is Enough,” “Because He Lives (Amen),” and more. In 2013, Maher performed on stage with Pope Francis in front of more than three million people at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, and will perform at World Youth Day 2016 in Krakow, Poland. He also performed at the Festival of Families, The World Meeting of Families - in Philadelphia in 2015. Maher released his fifth full-length studio release in March 2015 titled Saints and Sinners. For more about Matt, visit www.MattMaherMusic.com.