“Then the sailors became afraid, and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down, and fallen sound asleep. So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.” Jonah 1:5-6

When we are running away from God, it’s as if we have fallen asleep, spiritually. I believe this is one of the most dangerous places for us to be, because it makes us vulnerable to our enemy:

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

Why does Peter admonish us to “be alert”?  Because we can so easily become prey to sin.  When we live contrary to what God asks of us, we easily fall into the devil’s trap.  So, in other words, Peter is warning us to not fall asleep, or allow any kind of sin to creep into our lives.  Sin often begins with a small temptation, so much so, that we may not be aware.  This is the enemy’s trick – he starts to work on getting a foothold slowly, but the sin snowballs very quickly.

So often, we are too comfortable in the sin, or even enjoying it, not caring that it’s slowly eating away at us, leading us down a path of total destruction.  Or perhaps the sin has crept in so that we are not even aware of it because we have distanced ourselves from God and His will.  This is the danger of not being of “sober spirit”…of being asleep.

Do you see God working in your life?  Is He working in and through you?  Are you excited about your relationship with Him?  If not, you may be that person who has fallen asleep.  Or maybe you do all the right things, say the right words, etc, but deep down inside, you are sleeping.

Yeshua warned us against this when he said to Peter and the two sons of Zebedee in Matthew 26:41:

“Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

It is time for us to wake up!  The time grows shorter with each passing day … make a decision to turn back to Him, and draw closer to him daily through prayer and knowing His Word.  He longs for you.  And He is waiting to receive you with open arms.

Shabbat Shalom

Moran