Christian Living

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Last month I had a "sleep study" conducted to determine if my sleeping habits were contributing to some health problems I have been having lately. At first I was a little skeptical of the whole sleep diagnosis. It's sleep....what's the big deal right? I never realized how much goes on with the human body when it is asleep and things which may hinder that process. Medical science has become so advanced that they can determine many things based upon our sleep.

While physical sleep for us is good, spiritually speaking it is bad. We find in 1 Thessalonians 5:6 which warns us "Therefore, let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober." So what does it mean to "watch and be sober?" When we become sleepy in our physical bodies, we are obviously less alert than we are when we are awake. Being alert is very important in the times we live. Spiritually, we also need to be alert. If we are not careful, we can allow the habits and tendencies of sin to influence our lives and lull us asleep.

Being "sober" is an analogy to being drunk. The world's beliefs and views on morality can have an intoxicating effect on us and cause us to fall into a state of sleep. The Bible says that even the very elect could be deceived (Matthew 24:24) which is a very scary thought. I don’t consider myself to be in the “elect” so if you feel the same way I do then you want to be alert even more. This means we can't go about this Christian life in a nonchalant way. The deception of the world can put a "spin" on the very issues that contradict the Word of God. This is serious business. We must always be sober and watchful for our souls. We must guard it at all costs!

If you read further in 1 Thessalonians 5, you will read about the whole armor of God. None of this armor is effective if you are sleeping. You can put on all the armor but if you are sleeping when the enemy attacks, he will choke the very life out of you.

Churches that are asleep aren't carrying out the mission that God intends. The enemy of our souls is working to develop a spiritual sleep apnea where he desires to take the breath away from us. When we are not challenged, we are at a greater risk of falling asleep spiritually. We must shake ourselves and get to work! Too many of us are sleeping right on the pews in the church building. We call ourselves a "church" but it is nothing more than a state of sleep. We go each week, we hear God's Word preached but we leave there unchanged. If we are truly hearers and not doers, we are just sleeping away our opportunities.

We have the whole armor available to us to engage the enemy; however, the shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the spirit or any of the other spiritual weapons are powerless if we are spiritually asleep. It is hard enough to battle the enemy using all of the tools which are available but we make it more difficult if we fail to be alert and sober. It’s time to eliminate our spiritual sleep apnea and take the offensive in spiritual warfare.

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