Are We Sleepwalking Through Life?
TODAY’S PROVERB: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep—and your poverty comes like a bandit and your need like an armed man. Proverbs 6:10-11
Is there a difference between sleep and slumber? Apparently, yes. Sleep is a more restful state of being — generally, dreams occur during sleep. Slumber is light sleep, or a state of lethargy. Lethargy is an abnormal sleepiness and can be attributed to laziness or apathy.
Maybe we can think of sleep as the absence of awareness.
If that’s the case, these days we have a variety of “sleeps” to choose from. There’s the laying on the couch — sometimes called, veggie-out. Then there’s what I call the “walking-sleep.”
The Walking Sleepers are those who park themselves in front of the television, their computers, phones, gaming devices and all manner of social media and internet in general. They may have their eyes open, but they’re not aware of who or what is going on around them.
As a source of restorative rest that is good for our bodies, mind, and spirit, generally the Walking Sleeper’s activities do little to help them.
Just as oversleeping robs us of time, so does the misuse of technology. How
we steward our time is so important. Filling our days with sleep or things that lull us into a zombie-like state keep us from the opportunities God has for us.
As we walk through our first week of 2019, what if we paid more attention to how much time we spend of our free time as a Walking Sleeper. Keep a pad of paper and begin tracking for the next 10 days. See what we’re investing our hours and days in. Then, think of 10 things we could do with 10 minutes an hour we’re not sleepwalking. Then let’s share!
God has invested so much in us so that we can invest in others. Let’s discover how we can live it out aware and awake!
May we be good stewards of His gift of time, my friends.
[WATCH Tree of Life Bible Society’s CEO, Daniah Greenberg and me, Terri Gillespie, Author dig a little deeper with this proverb. Check us out at Tree of Life Bible Society, Monday through Friday, LIVE at 8:30am EST. Watch previous episodes there as well. Stay wise, my friends!]
