10.10.07

And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. - Romans 13:11-14.

Pedro Brito of St. Louis Park, Minnesota was just driving down the street at 3:30am on a Sunday morning minding his own business when a police officer stopped him. It is a good thing that it was early and that the streets were deserted because Pedro was…asleep. The police had received a call about a sleeping driver and when officers arrived Pedro was still asleep, still driving and he had crossed the centerline before an officer was able to reach inside and put the vehicle in neutral. 26-year-old Pedro was sound asleep and officers had to shake him and yell at him to wake him up. It appears that Brito was not only asleep but he may have also been intoxicated since the field sobriety test revealed that (surprise!) his balance was not very good.

We may think that we are awake - but are we really? Are we awake to the reality of life or are we just going through the motions letting the vehicle of our life idle through day after day?

Do you remember Jonah of Old Testament fame? He fled from the call of God upon his life and ended up on a ship going in the opposite direction from where he should have gone. Jonah went to sleep there on the ship even though it was not a restful sleep. Jonah was probably doing what many people do - trying to block out the reality of their sin by going to sleep. Some people learn this trick so well that they walk around (some drive around) in their sleep. It is not a real sleep; however, it is a sleep that is unconscious to the sin in their lives and the will of God for their lives.

Do you remember Samson, the man with superhero strength in the book of Judges? Delilah kept trying to find the secret to his strength so the Philistines could kill him. Samson slept peacefully always believing that He would awake as he had before with superhuman strength. He always had, and so when he told Delilah the real secret to his strength (Never having cut his hair.) he thought he would awaken as before. Samson came to believe that he was the source of his strength and that he no longer needed God. Since he no longer needed God, it didn’t matter whether he told Delilah the supposed secret about his hair. Samson was living a life of deception - he had deceived himself.

Do you remember how God woke up Jonah? A great fish swallowed him after he was thrown overboard and Jonah was wide awake after spending three days and night in the belly of that fish.

Do you remember how God woke up Samson? Samson found out that God had been the source of his strength after Delilah had cut his hair and the Philistines took him captive and put out his eyes.

After Jonah and Samson woke up to the reality of their lives and the reality that there is a God they both fulfilled their mission.

What about you? Time is running out. Each of us only has so much time. If we are ever going to start living life like God wants us to - isn’t it time to start? Wake up! It is time to live as we ought to live before it is eternally too late.