While Men Slept . . . .

November 2016

Matthew 13:25   Jesus speaks to us in parable form for us to understand a kingdom dynamic , because a carnal mind cannot understand spiritual things, so he says, the “kingdom of heaven”  is like a man (himself) who sowed good seed (his Word) in HIS field (the world), but while men slept (Gk: kathuedo) HIS enemy came and sowed tares (gk: zizanion – a grain that looks like wheat while its growing, but when fully grown a ripe and had ears which are long, the grains become black and poisonous).

It is not the first time that something disastrous happens  “while men slept”.

In Judges 15  Samson.. Delilah was used to press him to know the secret of his strength, he toyed with her constantly until one day he confessed that a razor had never came to head (16:17) , v19 “she made him sleep upon her knees and she called for a man to come and shave his 7 locks of hair, and she began to afflict him (to see if his strength was really gone!)  (V20) When the attackers came he said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself”. AND DID NOT KNOW that the Lord had departed from him.

While Samson slept, his strength was cut off!!.  While he slept – a diabolical plan was being executed which eventually led to his death.

The Disciples. Matthew 26:36-46.In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus takes his selected 3 disciples with him to pray – it is another defining moment in his life because the hour is approaching when the soldiers will come to arrest him.  Three times he finds them “asleep”.  …and While men slept, the enemy was marching toward arresting our Savior – they missed the opportunity to cover him or comfort him during his greatest time of agony – but they blew it!  Jesus says, (v45) “Sleep on..”

In sports, a “sleeper team is the one that people overlook or has the potential to supersede the expectation of others. They ask, “Whose your sleeper?”

In terrorism, a “sleeper cell” is group of people (sleepers) who inconspicuously remain dormant in a community until activated by a prearranged signal to perform acts of espionage, sabotage or terrorism.

If a parent sleeps until their child has transferred the affections of his heart to his peers and the things of the world, he has lost his child. If we expect to have any hope of not losing our children to the world and to the devil we surely better keep an open line to the heart of our children . We better know what is going on in that mind and in that heart. We need to know what he is thinking about and how he is thinking before it’s too late!

Today, men are sleeping (with their eyes wide open) while there is some serious stuff happening…. Conspiracy in the election process, the Cubs are in the World Series since 1908, Taylor Swift and Drake are dating, how much is Beyonce and JayZ worth?  Have you seen the latest episode of Empire? Halloween became a $4.6B industry. In a way, Who cares? Not when there is an enemy marching into our country with the sole purpose of destroying our way of life! 

There is an inundation of TV programming and social media that places a heavy emphasis on things that really don’t matter!  THIS is how we sleep in these days. Most people don’t have the time to really focus on the most important issues facing our society. We spend more time on social media than in our Bible, we know more about what matters less, and less knowledge about what matters most! 

Romans 13:11 (MSG)  But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!