Behold, I come as a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and hangs on to his garments, in order that he might not walk naked and they see his shame. Rev. 16:15.
Falling asleep is the perfect metaphor for the way many of us live our faith. We go through the motions of religion, make it through worship songs without remembering a word, and sometimes even pray and read our Bibles in a daze--as if a fog prevented any of it from making an impact on our lives. But we don't have to stay in a fog spiritually. God has a ready antidote.
A lifelong Catholic named Dan found Vicky Nelson to be extremely irritating. He could hardly stand to be with her on the job. Why? Because she was so calm all the time. She emanated a rare glow of serenity. Peace radiated from her like a spiritual tranquilizer! To him it seemed as if she were on drugs or something.
"Why are you so calm all the time?" he asked her one day.
"My faith," she answered peacefully.
"What faith?" he stammered. "I have faith--I'm Catholic!" (He claims to have been the world's worst Catholic at the time.)
"My faith," she repeated.
"What do you mean?" He's always believed in God but felt that anyone who called themselves "born again" must be nuts. When Christians called his radio show he played the theme from The Twilight Zone behind their voices.
Vicky dragged him down to a Bible bookstore. He bought a Bible and took a little pamphlet called "The Four Spiritual Laws" from her. Among other things, the booklet had a drawing of a throne with a little man sitting on it. The caption said: "Take yourself off the throne, and put the One who made you on it."
H'mm, Dan thought. Makes sense so far. He got down on his knees and said, "OK, God, if You're really up there, come into my life and do Your thing! Amen." He then crawled into bed and read most of the book of John. But he fell asleep before he finished, because he already knew how it ended.
The next morning he woke up feeling as if had drunk 10 cups of coffee or something. The reason was simple. He realized that he now believed in God! Suddenly he had a craving to read the Bible. And it made sense to him! Only the Lord could do a miracle like that. The antidote to being asleep spiritually is to "ask and it will be given to you" (Matt. 7:7, NIV). It is simply to "taste and see" (Ps. 34:8). God is real and is waiting to show Himself to us.
Lord, I invite You on the throne of my life today. Let nothing separate me from You.
Falling asleep is the perfect metaphor for the way many of us live our faith. We go through the motions of religion, make it through worship songs without remembering a word, and sometimes even pray and read our Bibles in a daze--as if a fog prevented any of it from making an impact on our lives. But we don't have to stay in a fog spiritually. God has a ready antidote.
A lifelong Catholic named Dan found Vicky Nelson to be extremely irritating. He could hardly stand to be with her on the job. Why? Because she was so calm all the time. She emanated a rare glow of serenity. Peace radiated from her like a spiritual tranquilizer! To him it seemed as if she were on drugs or something.
"Why are you so calm all the time?" he asked her one day.
"My faith," she answered peacefully.
"What faith?" he stammered. "I have faith--I'm Catholic!" (He claims to have been the world's worst Catholic at the time.)
"My faith," she repeated.
"What do you mean?" He's always believed in God but felt that anyone who called themselves "born again" must be nuts. When Christians called his radio show he played the theme from The Twilight Zone behind their voices.
Vicky dragged him down to a Bible bookstore. He bought a Bible and took a little pamphlet called "The Four Spiritual Laws" from her. Among other things, the booklet had a drawing of a throne with a little man sitting on it. The caption said: "Take yourself off the throne, and put the One who made you on it."
H'mm, Dan thought. Makes sense so far. He got down on his knees and said, "OK, God, if You're really up there, come into my life and do Your thing! Amen." He then crawled into bed and read most of the book of John. But he fell asleep before he finished, because he already knew how it ended.
The next morning he woke up feeling as if had drunk 10 cups of coffee or something. The reason was simple. He realized that he now believed in God! Suddenly he had a craving to read the Bible. And it made sense to him! Only the Lord could do a miracle like that. The antidote to being asleep spiritually is to "ask and it will be given to you" (Matt. 7:7, NIV). It is simply to "taste and see" (Ps. 34:8). God is real and is waiting to show Himself to us.
Lord, I invite You on the throne of my life today. Let nothing separate me from You.
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