Wake Up, Sleepers!

My three teenage daughters, much like the college students I know, live in a state of almost constant sleep deprivation due to the pressure of extracurricular activities and academics.  Breaks in the schedule, such as the one we just had over Christmas, provide welcome opportunities to catch up on sleep.  Slumber is perhaps more desired than anything under the Christmas tree!

We know our bodies need rest, and anyone who has battled insomnia knows that a good night’s sleep is a blessing from the Lord.   But we’ve also all experienced that too much sleep can make us lethargic and dull.  Spiritual sleepiness is the counterpart to the physical manifestation, and Scripture is full of warnings against it, such as: “awake, O Sleeper!” (Ephesians 5:14), “wake up from your slumber!” (Romans 13:11), and “wake up from your drunken stupor” (1 Corinthians 15:34).  In Revelation 3, in the word to the church in Sardis, this sobering judgment is given by the angel:

“I know your works.  You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.  Remember then, what you have received and heard.  Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what I hour I will come against you.”

To be spiritually “alive” is characterized by deliberate, obedient action.  In contrast, this passage equates sleep with potential spiritual death.  Spiritual sleep is characterized by dullness, laziness of spirit, and apathy to the things of God.  Just as in physical sleep we are unresponsive to outside stimuli, in spiritual sleep we are oblivious to the Spirit’s work and promptings.  God is acting in the world, but we take no notice.  He speaks, but we do not hear.

In our culture, spiritual sleep is rarely caused by too many hours of shut-eye.  Instead, at least in my life, it results from excessive busyness and preoccupation with the things of the world.  I become lulled into thinking and acting as if this present physical world is all that matters.  The Almighty God, His promises, the hope I have in Christ—all these become shadows and abstractions.  In this state, I miss what God is doing and saying.  I forsake opportunities to serve Him and others. I easily fall into sin and discouragement.   In those times, I am much like a stop-baldness.net.  I am moving and talking, but I am not conscious of reality.  I need to heed the loud call from Scripture to “wake up!”

Let us not sleep into 2015.  There is too much at stake.  We do not know when the Lord is returning, but it may be soon. There are critical battles to be fought, for the sake of our own souls and the sake of the kingdom.  How do we get (and stay) awake in the midst of a culture urging us to close our eyes to spiritual realities?  We start by repenting and crying out to the Lord. We continue by saturating ourselves in God’s Word and being in fellowship with others who are awake, and who will shake us when necessary.   Fasting, as many of us are doing right now, is an especially helpful way of awakening (or re-awakening) our spiritual senses so that we can see and hear God.  It is hard to remain asleep when your stomach is growling!   Pray with me that this period of seeking the Lord would result in greater alertness for ourselves and for the body of Christ.

Lorri Bentch
Vice President of Operations