Be on guard. Keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.

Mark 13:33 (ESV)

I like to sleep. I love to sleep. As much as I love church, I most often wake up on Sunday mornings thinking about the nap I’ll take in the afternoon. There’s a time change this weekend. I’ll lose an hour of sleep. But I get to nap on Sunday afternoon. Sleep is good.

While sleep is good and necessary for the body, the Church as a whole is pretty sleepy these days. Jesus told his disciples to be on guard. Don’t fall asleep! Keep watch! When the Church gets dozy, the world starts to fall apart.

We can blame politicians all we want, but where is the Church when morality sinks a little lower? Where is the Church when war breaks out? Where is the Church when hearts are broken? She’s asleep. Like the disciples when Jesus went to the garden to pray. They only had one job – stay awake and pray, but they fell asleep when Jesus needed them the most.

Jesus needs us. If he is coming back for his bride, the bride had better be ready. She had better be prepared. She had better be dressed in white. She had better be awake.

And what I say to you I say to you all: Stay awake.

Mark 13:37 (ESV)

Daily Bible reading: Deuteronomy 14-16, Mark 13:14-37