Read: Proverbs 24:30-34 & Mark 4:18-19 & Galatians 6:9
My knack for falling asleep any place and any time, and staying asleep despite noise, light and other distractions is an uncanny capability rivaled by few. However, lately my “talent” has interfered with my quiet time, as I have allowed myself to fall captive to the allure of the snooze button.
I prefer reading my Bible in the morning, starting my day with a healthy dose of truth before heading off to work. But recently I’ve grown closer to my pillow and seemingly a bit more distant from God. I understand God’s love for me doesn’t change whether I read the Bible or not and nothing I do will change the fact that I’m saved completely by grace through Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, but I desire a relationship with God that is ever-growing, and that kind of relationship develops largely through reading the Bible.
God reveals His will for our lives through His word, and Proverbs 24:30-34 offers this caution, “I went past the field of a sluggard, past the vineyard of someone who has no sense; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.”
This reminds me of Jesus’s explanation of the parable of the sower. In Mark 4:18-19, He says, “Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.”
Most of us are busy, and everyone gets tired at times. It can be easy to become complacent, going through life spiritually “sleeping.” However, “let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9). When we choose to actively seek God, we can stop the thorns from choking out the fruit He has in store, and we will begin to reap abundantly in our lives.
