Sound Asleep

"The hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed" (Romans 13:11).

Three sleeping baby Robins, now four days old.  Lady Robin still sits on the nest to keep them warm.  The down covering on their tiny bodies is increasing.  They raise their heads and open their beaks wide when the parent birds bring them food.  Beyond that, they don't move around much, and they sleep most of the time. 

Sleeping is something most of us probably don't get enough of. . . or at least we'd like to get more sleep than we do.  Spiritually speaking, however, sleeping is the last thing we want to be caught doing. 

Jesus taught us how to stay awake spiritually by listening closely to His teachings, reading the Scriptures with our minds and hearts open; praying diligently for protection from the evil one; and receiving His Spirit and forgiveness in Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.  The Spirit of God will thus keep us "wide awake and alert" for our Lord's return.  Only God the Father knows when that last hour will be.

"Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—lest he come suddenly and find you asleep" (Mark 13:35-36).