Jesus's Final Marching Orders... and My 5-Hour Nap

“It is a cowardly pride that would choose a soft pillow and a silk couch for a soldier of the cross.” – C.H. Spurgeon

Most days, unless I have a breakfast appointment or an early morning prison ministry trip, I roll out of bed somewhere between 7:00 AM and 7:30 AM. Meanwhile, our two dogs usually wake Deanna up between 5:30 AM and 6:00 AM.

It’s not that I ignore the dogs. Rather, I tend to sleep on my left side, which means my right ear – which has an 80% hearing loss – faces up. And so, when our dogs start whining to go out, I simply don’t hear them. However, Deanna (who is a very light sleeper) does… and if she tries to ignore them, Coco pats her on the face until she gets up.

That means, on average, I get about 90 minutes more sleep per night than Deanna… and I guess I need it, because I could sleep even longer if I were retired and had no place to go. I suppose you could say that I enjoy a soft pillow and a comfy couch, but not for the reasons Charles Spurgeon implies in today’s quote.

(For instance, after a long day of prison ministry on August 1st that included waking up at 3:30 AM, driving our team van for six hours roundtrip, and playing two basketball games against two different very talented inmate teams, I was bushed. However, I still had to get up the next morning and preach a sermon at my church… after which I enjoyed a five-hour nap!)

What the “Prince of Preachers” is getting at is that we, as Christians, cannot afford to live a life of idleness and luxury while people around us are hurting and in danger of going to hell. On the contrary, we should be on the front lines of the battle against the spiritual forces of darkness that are so pervasive in today’s world. We must stand up for godly principles, defend the authority of God’s Word, and make war against evil and unbiblical elements in our society. God – and future generations of believers – are counting on us… and so are our spiritual ancestors who sacrificed so much on our behalf.

Jesus stood tall for us in Gethsemane and at Calvary… and we should do the same for Him with every fiber of our being and every breath in our body. There will come a time for us to rest in Glory but until then, may He find us faithfully carrying out His final marching orders (see Matthew 28:19-20).

“While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President