Are you a morning person? An early bird? Do you have the “early to bed, early to rise, makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise” philosophy? Do you just bound out of bed before the rooster has a chance to crow, rip-roaring and raring to go?
Or, are you more of an evening-type individual? A night owl? Do you have the “early to rise and early to bed makes a person healthy, wealthy and dead” philosophy? Do you drag yourself out of bed at the crack of noon, and even then it’s hard to get moving?
The early bird vs. the night owl. The early riser vs. the late riser. For years there has been a debate about which is better, which is more productive. Is it better to get moving straight away so that you don’t “burn daylight” or is it better to do more in the evening, in the cool of the night? Is it better to quote Benjamin Franklin (the early riser) or James Thurber (the late riser)?
It used to be that this answer was pretty simple, pretty straightforward…especially if you were a person whose livelihood revolved around farming, or if you lived in a time before electricity. Daylight only happened for so long. Sleeping during daylight hours was counter-productive as you couldn’t make up the work in the evening. There was no option for working at night. Benjamin Franklin had it right. If you want to get work done, if you want to be productive, get up early.
These days, things have changed. Electricity and modern inventions have made working into the evening more feasible, more realistic. With so much being done online and electronically, it makes much less difference if your report is completed at 10am or 10pm. Even in farming, practices of spraying and planting in the evening are increasing. The picture has become much less clear. Does the early bird get the worm or does the second mouse get the cheese?
In reality, at least when it comes to sleep patterns, it probably makes very little difference. A person can get up at 5 in the morning after going to bed at 8 the previous evening and still be lazy, or someone can get up at 5 in the morning and accomplish a ton. Likewise, someone can get up at 1pm after going to bed at 4am and be lazy, ore they can get up at 1pm and accomplish a ton. Though sleep schedule and preference can make a difference in some circumstances, particularly depending upon the job that you’d like to accomplish or the people that you need to meet/work together with, it really isn’t the primary issue that we need to be addressing. If someone prefers to wake up at 4am, great. If someone prefers to go to sleep at 4am, great. The more important question we need to be addressing is whether or not we are truly awakened. When we get out of bed are we truly awake? Are we awake to the things of God and do we set about accomplishing them each day? Are we using the hours that we have been given for good, for holy things, for light or are we wasting the hours that we have with evil, with wickedness, with the dark?
To me, that is a much more important question than the issue of the time we get up and the time we go to sleep. The real question…are we awake when we are up? Are we really awakened to the presence of God in our lives? Are we able to follow Jesus during each day that we have been given?
In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul says it this way:
And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
~ Romans 13:11-12
The hour has already come for you to wake from your slumber.
The time is upon us.
The time is now.
We need to be awakened.
Not just physically, but spiritually. We need to be spiritually awakened to the things of God within our lives. We need to be awakened to the salvation of Jesus that has been given to us and the task that lies before us. The night is nearly over. The day is almost here. Let’s put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. It’s time to get up!
Whenever I was in high school, waking up in the morning was not my favorite thing in the world. In fact, I had a pretty hard time with getting out of bed for school. It took two alarm clocks and one Mom. I’d set one alarm clock right beside my bed. Typically, I’d turn that one off without even realizing what was happening. Roll over and smack the thing. Go back to sleep. Then, the other alarm clock would go off across the room. I’d drag my sorry carcass over to it and would turn it off as well. Sometimes, that was sufficient, and I’d be up. Other times, I needed more. I needed Mom. If both clocks didn’t work, and I was going to be late, Mom would step in and do whatever it took. Gentle reminders, “Honey you need to get up to go to school.” Little shakes of the shoulder, “Sweetie it’s time to get moving.” If that didn’t work, she would elevate to the next level. Foot tickling or blanket removal. If those efforts didn’t achieve the goal, she’d bring out the big guns. Water. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Right on my forehead. (It’s very difficult to sleep with water dripping on your forehead.) Whatever it took to get me moving, for me to be awakened, that’s what happened. After all, I had a task to perform, a job to do. School lay before me, and it was important that I was awake to participate.
Sometimes it can be hard to get up. It can be hard to be awakened. We feel comfortable in our slumber, and we don’t wish to be disturbed. Regardless, we need to recognize that the alarm is ringing. The buzzer is buzzing. Both of them. The one right next to the bed as well as the one across the room. Wake up sleeper! Open your eyes! It’s time to get moving! Put aside the deeds of darkness. Do away with the wickedness that is holding you back. Awake to the things of Jesus. Dress in the armor of light.
Paul continues:
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
~ Romans 13:13-14
It’s easy to read a passage like this and immediately think in terms of behavior modification or in terms of a list of things that we are to refrain from as followers of Jesus. No carousing. No drunkenness. No sexual immorality. No debauchery. No dissension. No jealousy. Staying away from these things is good, is advisable; however, if all we get from this passage is a list of “don’ts,” then we are likely still asleep. We’ve likely missed part of the point. Yes, there are behaviors that we should refrain from, and Paul makes a list of some of them here; however, there is more to waking up than that. Do you see it? Do you see what Paul wants for us, what it looks like to be awake?
Being clothed in Jesus Christ.
Completely covered in Jesus.
Completely alive, completely awake in the love of the Lord.
Having the attitude of Jesus, the mindset of Jesus, the concerns of Jesus. Being no longer worried about how we might gratify the desires of the flesh but focusing on the workings of the Holy Spirit within our lives.
I fear that there are a lot of times in my life when I have appeared to be “awake,” but I was really just sleep walking. There have been occasions where it looked like I was living, where I was active, where I was doing the right things or saying the right things or being in the right places, but on the inside I was trying to fulfill the inward desires of my flesh more than I was being clothed with Christ. I was going through some motions still asleep, needing to hear the alarm, to respond to the shaking, to bound out of bed from the water being dripped on my head.
Friend, it is time to wake up.
It is time to be awakened to the things of God in your life. Will this mean that there are some behaviors that you have to change? Perhaps. Even more than that, it will mean that you are clothed in Jesus. That Jesus is your covering. That Jesus is your protection. That Jesus is within your every thought. That your mindset is the Lord’s. That your attitude is the Lord’s. That each step you take is the Lord’s.
Can you hear the alarm sounding?
Can you hear the voices calling?
It doesn’t matter if it is 4am or 4pm when you are reading this, if you’ve just gotten out of bed or if you’re about to hit this sheets. It doesn’t matter if you are early on in your life or if you are entering your twilight. The time is now.
Will you ask God to awaken you?
Will you ask the Lord to move within you?
Will you put on the armor of light?
Will you allow Jesus to clothe you?
….or do I need to go and get some water?
~ Pastor Chris
