Josiah Road

Wake Up

posted by Mike Blackaby 20Jun

I am not a morning person. I do not enjoy rising before the sun to go for a jog, eat a healthy breakfast, or read the newspaper while the rest of the world sleeps. I prefer to hit the snooze button on my alarm as many times as I can…and then once more. My breakfast consists of the granola bar I grab on my way out the door. I get my exercise by running to my car, and I catch up on world events by tuning in to my car radio. Despite my unhealthy morning habits, however, I can always rely on my trusted alarm clock. Or so I thought.

I am currently in a hotel in Malaysia, but I clearly remember the talk my father gave me the night before we left for the airport. Like most international flights, they know you have plenty of time to sleep on the airplane (despite being sandwiched between two extremely large people, having no leg room, and being assaulted by the sound of four crying babies), so they always make the departure time as early as possible. On this particular flight, that time was 6:45 a.m. Since we live 45 minutes away from the airport and must clear long customs and security lines, our meeting time was 0400. “Mike,” he told me, “Make sure you are IN THE DRIVEWAY at 4:00 in the morning. That doesn’t mean ‘leaving your apartment at 4:00.’ It means ‘in my car pulling out of my driveway at 4:00.’” I assured him that, as a twenty-three year-old-man I was a responsible adult, and refused his offer to give me a wake-up call.

I abruptly awoke the next morning to the annoying sound of my cell phone. As I scrambled to answer it, my eyes darted to my alarm clock. It read 4:05. My dad is going to eat me with a side of French fries. After a rather short and somewhat direct conversation with my father, I proceeded to race around my room throwing anything I could find into a suitcase. I flew out the door and raced to my parent’s house, remembering the numerous items I forgot to pack as I turned into their driveway. This was going to be a long morning or a short life.

How many times in our Christian life are we caught off guard because we were careless? How often are we shocked by sin in our lives because we didn’t notice when it entered? It is easy to coast through life without paying attention, but spiritual idleness carries severe consequences. In Luke 22:46, Jesus found his disciples sleeping at his most critical hour. My dad once told me, “The forces of evil never sleep.” That is so true. Judas was extremely busy on the night he betrayed Jesus, but the other eleven disciples were sound asleep. There are spiritual battles being waged all around us and if we are not careful, sin will entrap us before we even realize it.