Are you someone who loves their sleep? My wife is. It is not uncommon for her to sleep 9-10 hours a night. Plus taking naps if the opportunity arrives. It’s ok…dhe doesn’t read my blog…
Do you know that sleeping too much can be hazardous to your health? Bet you didn’t. Neither did I. We all know about the dangers of not getting enough sleep. Many illnesses are linked to lack of sleep. However, some recent studies are revealing that too much sleep may not be good either. Diabetes, obesity, headaches, back pain, depression, heart disease, and death (yes even death) have been linked to too much sleep. One study revealed that those that sleep over 9 hours a night have a higher death rate than those that sleep only 7-8 hours a night. This makes me glad that I am a night owl and usually get only 6-7 hours of sleep a night.
Just as there are dangers to our physical health because of too much sleep, there are also dangers to our spiritual health directly relating to sleep. Jesus tells the church in Sardis in Revelation 3:1-6 that they have fallen asleep and need to wake up. Let me explain…
Sardis was located on top of a steep mountain. Which was good…in some ways. There was only one way in to the city. The south side of the mountain provided the only access to the city. This meant that Sardis was very secure and should therefore have been safe. Problem was that along with the feeling of safety came complacency. They felt so safe that they became arrogant. They believed that no one could reach them..especially not their enemies.
Unfortunately history tells us that was not the case. At least 2 times Sardis was raided and seized. The Medians in 549 BC & the Cretans in 218 BC. The people of Sardis had fallen asleep. They took their physical safety for granted. And soon to follow was their spiritual condition.
As Christians we must look at the Church in Sardis and realize the implications for us. The Greek word Jesus used here is “Gregoreo” which means to keep watch or be on guard. We must keep watch because like the church in Sardis, we have an enemy. Our enemy will attack at any moment. We don’t know when, he usually doesn’t give us warning. So we must be ready at every moment for him to attack. 1 Peter 5:8 says the enemy ”prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” He doesn’t take a break so we can’t either. We must wake up and be prepared.
We also must wake up because Jesus will return one day. Again, we don’t have a time & date. We have not been given that information. We’re just told to expect it. Jesus says in Matthew 24:42, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” That’s pretty clear to me. We don’t know. And since we don’t know we must always be prepared.
Have you fallen asleep? When the enemy attacks, will you be ready? If Christ came back today, are you prepared? Be careful…be watchful…and whatever you do…Wake Up!
Deron
Robert Gilliland Said:
on December 12, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Thanks! need to be more ‘on guard’ than ever as Christians these days! God Bless!!