So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.
I Thessalonians 5:6 NIV
Keep Awake
The Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults, released in October 2020, recommend 7 to 9 hours of good-quality sleep for adults aged 18 to 64 and 7 to 8 hours for adults aged 65 and older, on a regular basis, with consistent sleep and wake times for health benefits. Canadians’ average bedtime is 10:06 pm. 20 per cent of Canadians are very early risers, waking between 3 am and 6 am. 15 per cent are true night owls – their bedtime is between midnight and 3 am.
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Most people sleep through life, unaware of God’s presence and love. They live with no sense of the eternal, no desire for anything other than living life day by day, looking forward to the weekend or the next vacation. The apostle Paul reminds the Christians at Thessalonica that they need to be awake to the goodness of God and His presence in their lives and their world. In 1 Thessalonians 5:6, he writes: “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.” Paul had just reminded these believers that they were children of the day. The light of Christ fills their hearts and their lives. He calls them to be awake to the presence of God, and to the opportunities that God gives them, gives us, every day. Being awake calls us living in a posture of expectation, able to tune in to God’s voice and His Spirit. It’s noticing the moments He places before us—opportunities to encourage, to forgive, to love. It’s recognizing the unseen battles and the quiet work He’s doing in our hearts and the hearts around us.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley