When the little boy’s mom put her finger to her lips and blew out a little “shh” to remind him to be quiet in church, the lad looked quizzically back at his mother and whispered, “How come do we have to be quiet in church?  Are there people trying to sleep?”  Yes, worshippers—including myself—do occasionally nod off during Sunday service.  In fact, one pastor brags that he is a more effective preacher than the Apostle Paul since it is recorded that Paul only had one person (Acts 20:9) to doze off during the entire history of his ministry while he could often put half the congregation to sleep with only one sermon.  If we consider the spiritual drowsiness in the church, the percentage is probably even much higher than this preacher’s rating with people falling physically asleep.  Therefore, it is no wonder that the Spirit rings out a great wake-up call to the Body of Christ, “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” (Ephesians 5:14)  But before we address His call that shakes us out of our slumber, it would be good to look at exactly what sleep is anyway.

In the physical realm, a good night of sleep is an absolute necessity.  Along with nutrition, sleep actually fuels our lives because our bodies turn their energy inward when we sleep.  Instead of expending energy on physical activities as our bodies do while we are awake, our sleeping bodies focus on repairing damaged cells and tissues and recharging the immune system by building up a new contingent of natural killer cells.  During sleep, our growth hormones are actively repairing damaged tissue in adults and building new tissue in children.  Additionally, our bodies take time to undo the corrosive effects of the stress that we have encountered during the day. Even short snoozes can have regenerative qualities.  A study done in Greece showed an inverse relationship between napping and heart attacks.  Work-related studies have proven that a twenty-six-minute nap can boost job performance by more than one third, and such mid-day dozes will not hinder our nighttime rest.  Studies indicate that even an hour-and-a-half nap in the early afternoon will not affect our night’s sleep.

Although we should keep sleep at the top of our priorities list each day, seventy-one percent of adults and eighty-five percent of teens don’t get the recommended amount of sleep.  With such high percentages, it is actually surprising that only twenty-eight percent of teens report falling asleep in school and more people don’t get fired for sleeping on the job.  In the same way that making conscious choices about the food we eat helps put us on the path to optimal health, getting sound sleep each night can go a long way toward promoting our best quality of life.  Just as we all need air, water, and food to survive, we also need sleep to be healthy.  We would probably be amazed at the positive impact that making optimal sleep a priority in our lives would have on both our mental and physical well being.  Unfortunately, too many of us sacrifice good sleep in order to gain more time for our work or other activities—a direct contradiction to scriptural principles:

Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.  It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. (Psalm 127:2)

Three indicators signify good quality sleep: the ability to fall asleep within five minutes of lying down, the tendency to sleep through the night without waking, and the capability of rising the next morning feeling rested and refreshed.  If these indicators are not confirming that we are getting the proper sleep, we need to examine the variables in our lives to see what needs to be altered.  Obviously, finding the right bed is one of the major factors to sleeping “tight”—a figure of speech that harkens to Shakespeare’s time when mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes that were pulled on to make the bed firmer.  However, the most significant changes needed are not in our environment but in our lifestyles.  To find the real culprits in sleep loss, we usually need to look no further than our own daily routines and habits to see where we are overtaxing ourselves.  It has been said that a good night’s sleep actually starts the second we wake up in the morning because all the activities of the day figure into our ability to sleep well at night.  For example, exercise helps set the biological clock to a consistent sleep-wake pattern; therefore lack of proper physical activity can cause sleep problems.  Diet can also help regulate our sleep patterns.  Obviously, we need to avoid sugar and caffeine for a period of time prior to retiring for the evening.  Eating a high-carb meal, such as rice, four hours before bed can cut in half the time it takes to fall asleep.  Another factor that plays significantly into our ability to sleep well is the transition of winding down our daily activity.  Research indicates that most of us spend the final hour of our day doing household chores, taking care of children, or catching up on work—all activities that stimulate rather than settle us down.  Interestingly enough, the most powerful sleep inducer is sexual intercourse; therefore, a good marital relationship should also promote good sleep patterns and habits.  In addition to checking all the physical factors, we need to also double-check our spiritual relationships since the biblical passage we just noted promises rejuvenating sleep to the righteous.

Having mentioned a biological clock, it would probably be good to stop at this point for a quick explanation that each person’s natural daily rhythm is unique to that individual person.  However, there are some basic patterns that can generalize most of us.  These patterns tend to fall into two major divisions: those people whom we often call “larks” because they function best in the early morning and those individuals whom we often label “owls” because they find themselves more energized later in the evening and even into the night.  Let’s compare what doctors have discovered about the daily ebb and flow of the mental energies of these two groups.

Morning Lark

5:30 AM               up

6-8 AM                 creativity

8 AM-12:30 PM    problem solving

12:30-2:30 PM      bad time for concentration

2:30-4:30 PM       problem solving

4:30-8 PM            rejuvenation

8-10 PM               bad time for concentration

10 PM                   bed

 

Night Owl

8 AM                    up

8-10 AM               bad time for concentration

10 AM-noon         creativity

Noon-1 PM          problem solving

1-3 PM                 bad time for concentration

3-6 PM                 rejuvenation

6-11 PM               problem solving

11-midnight          bad time for concentration

Midnight              bed

Notice that both groups come out fairly equal in the amount of time relegated to each category.  With most of the differences being only half an hour, the significance isn’t in the quantity of time in each slot but the time of day at which each peak and slump occurs.  The conclusion we can draw from this analysis is that being a lark or an owl is not better than the other—only different.  By understanding this point, we can stop comparing ourselves with others and begin to work with our own inbuilt rhythm to optimize the God-given qualities inside us.

In addition to the many physical benefits our bodies gain from our sleep time, there are also many spiritual benefits associated with the down time our brains experience during sleep.  A simple glance through the Bible will reveal a multitude of people who had life-changing inspirations and a number of others who had history-making revelations while asleep.  One particularly interesting example is found in the story of Jacob who, after cheating his brother out of his birthright and inheritance, had a vision of angels ascending and descending a ladder stretched between earth and heaven.  At the top of that staircase stood God Himself who appeared to assure the schemer that He had a good plan for his life and would guarantee His covenant promise regardless of how deceptive Jacob had been in obtaining the birthright and his father’s blessing. (Genesis 28:10-15)  When he awoke from his dream, Jacob made a stunning proclamation, “Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.” (Genesis 28:16)  It was only in his sleep that Jacob could hear from God.  His own evaluation of the situation was that he was totally unaware of the presence of God as long as he was awake.

Jacob’s son Joseph followed in his father’s pattern of hearing from God through dreams.  Genesis chapter thirty-seven records two dreams that set the course of the young man’s destiny—a destiny that involved not only his own dreams but also the dreams of others.  Through interpreting the dreams of his prison mates and the dream of the king of Egypt, Joseph was propelled into the most pivotal position in the most powerful government of his time.  This role allowed him to, in his own words, preserve the life of the nations. (Genesis 45:5)

Abraham, the forefather of these two dreamers, had a powerful dreamtime experience that confirmed his God-given covenant—a covenant that not only determined his personal destiny but also that of all his descendants, including Jacob and Joseph as well as every Jewish person who has ever trodden this earth’s soil.  That overwhelming night encounter was so potent in its nature that it struck terror throughout Abraham’s being as it solidified a promise that has been under siege through every subsequent generation of history—even to the present day!

And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.  And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.  And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.  And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.  In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. (Genesis 15:12-21)

Generations later, a young priestly assistant found it hard to sleep as he kept hearing a whisper calling his name.  Finally, Samuel’s mentor recognized that this beckon was coming from God Himself and instructed the lad as to how to answer the divine call.  The visitation that night set the immediate course for the next several generations and the pattern for the continued history of the nation of Israel. (I Samuel chapter three) 
 Many generations still further into the course of time, God spoke through dreams and night visions to proclaim the future course and destiny of not only Israel but all the gentile nations as well—scenarios that are still being played out today with bulldozers in the Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem, slingshots in the Gaza Strip, suicide bombers at bus stops in Israel, and short- and medium-range missiles in the hands of Middle Eastern nations set on destroying the Small Satan and her Western ally, the Great Satan. (Daniel 1:17 and chapters two, four, five, seven, eight, and ten)

Other Old Testament characters whose life courses were determined through dreams include Abimelech (Genesis chapter twenty), Jacob and his uncle/double father-in-law Laban (Genesis chapter thirty-one), Gideon (Judges chapter seven), and King Solomon (I Kings chapter five).  The New Testament opens with a flurry of dream activity as God speaks through dreams to direct Joseph not to be afraid to marry Mary and then gives direction to him and the Wise Men about steps they must take to ensure the baby Jesus’ safety. (Matthew chapter two) God continued to use dreams as He attempted to warn Pilate about crucifying Christ (Matthew 27:19) and then to the Apostle Paul as he expanded the mission of the church to include the gentile nations (Acts 16:9, 19:9).

But let’s back up just a bit to a point that I made just before we began looking at how God has used dreams to speak to men and direct their lives and even alter the course of history.  By speaking of the brain’s “down time,” I made a statement that was not all together factual.  Actually, our brains do not become totally inactive during sleep.  They use that time when we are not consciously active for a myriad of unconscious activities including reorganizing all the bits of information that we have received during the day.  Much as a computer has to determine where it will store all the data that has been entered into its memory bank, our brains have to take some time to organize all the thoughts that they are expected to retain.  How often have you heard someone who is the process of trying to make an important decision use the expression, “Let me sleep on it”?  What that person is saying is that he wants to take advantage of this subconscious mental operation so that he can see all the facts in a freshly organized perspective that may take into account bits of information that he may not have even been consciously aware of when he picked them up the previous day. I personally believe that God is actively involved in the lives of believers one hundred percent of the time.  That means that He must also be actively involved in this nighttime subconscious brain activity as well.  Therefore, He is actually in control of how our thoughts and memories get reorganized as we sleep.  The result is that when we wake up each morning, we should have an enlightened perspective on everything that we have seen and heard the day before.  In other words, even without a dream or night vision, we have actually heard from the Lord during our sleep!  With this thought in mind, now we can understand why we often awaken in the morning with fresh thoughts and new ideas.  My mentor, Dr. Lester Sumrall, always kept a pen and notebook next to the bed because he never wanted to miss a good thought that the Lord might drop into his heart during the night.

In my own personal life, I use the first thoughts I have when I awaken in the morning as a monitor of my own spiritual life.  Generally, I awaken with the words to one of my favorite Christian songs cycling through my head.  This is a great indication because we are admonished in scripture to meditate on
 psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16)  However, I remember one particular occasion when I woke up for several mornings in a row with the words to a secular song echoing in my head.  The lyrics were not lewd or perverted, but the song was not something that edified me or exalted the Lord. (I Corinthians 14:26)  Therefore, I began to make a serious effort to renew my mind (Romans 12:2) so that I was more spiritually minded (Romans 8:6) during the day.  The result was that I soon returned to my normal pattern of waking up with spiritual songs reverberating in my mind.  In addition to songs, I often have ideas for new books or lessons, thoughts of how to accomplish projects that I have been working on, or individual’s names in my first thoughts.  When I contact the individuals whose names are in my first thoughts, almost without exception, those individuals are going through some very difficult time in their lives and really need a word of encouragement and prayer support.  Isaiah described his own experience along these lines by saying:

The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.(Isaiah 50:4)

I am also certain that this sort of subconscious direction of our thoughts during sleep is what the psalmist was referring to when he spoke of the meditations on his bed during the night watches (Psalm 4:4, 63:6, 149:5) and what Solomon was referring to when he spoke of the working of the Word of God in our lives during our sleep (Proverbs 6:22).  I wonder if this might be the reasoning behind the thrice-repeated command in the Song of Solomon that the lover not be awakened until he pleases; perhaps the maiden knew that Solomon needed to have his full nighttime communion with the Lord so that he would be at his best for his daytime activities. (Song of Solomon 2:7, 3:5, 8:4, 5:2)

Sleep is repeatedly referred to in the scripture as a blessing and is associated with many promises from God (Job 3:23; Psalm 3:5, 4:8, 139:18; Ecclesiastes 5:12; Jeremiah 31:26), and dreams are repeatedly spoken of as a chosen method for God to speak to and direct His people (Numbers 12:6, Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17); however, we must not forget that there are also many negative statements about sleep recorded in the Bible.  Some men may point to the opening chapters of the Bible and suggest that if Adam had never fallen asleep (Genesis 2:21) he would not have wound up with Eve who, although she was initially a joyful addition to his life, eventually brought him a lot of trouble and pain.  Well, be that argument as it may, there is certainly no question that Sisera should have never accepted Jael’s offer of a cup of warm milk (Judges chapter four), that Samson certainly got into a lot of trouble when he fell asleep in the lap of Delilah (Judges chapter sixteen), that King Saul fell into serious jeopardy when he and all his body guards fell asleep (I Samuel chapter twenty-six), that Ishbosheth should have never taken a nap in the middle of the day (II Samuel chapter four), that all ten virgins should have stayed awake and kept their lamps full of oil (Matthew chapter twenty-five), and that Jesus’ disciples should have been able to stay awake in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew chapter twenty-six).  Additionally, the Lord has a lot to say about dreams and dreamers who may not be of Him. (Deuteronomy 13:1, 3, 5; Job 7:14, 20:8, 33:15-22; Ecclesiastes 5:3, 7; Jeremiah 23:25, 27, 28, 32, 27:9, 29:8; Zechariah 10:2; Jude 1:8)  When God does make negative statements about sleep, the first focus seems to be on the amount of time that people sleep or the season during which they choose to sleep. (Proverbs 10:5, 19:15, 20:13)  Solomon crystallized the whole issue of oversleeping in Proverbs 6:9-11 and then felt that the point was so significant that he repeated it again in chapter twenty-four:

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard?  when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

Jesus’ teachings confirm that during the unsuspecting hours of sleep, we might not only become subject to theft and vandalism but might also miss God’s intended blessing. (Matthew 13:24-30, 24:42-44, 25:1-13; Luke 11:5-8, 17:34)  The second area of concern seems to be on the attitudes of the people that would make them so drowsy. (Psalm 76:5; Hosea 7:6; Romans 11:8)  Perhaps the most significant of the Lord’s concerns is that it is those men and women He has called to be the most attentive and watchful who are prone to fall into stupefying slumber. (Isaiah 29:10, 56:10; Nahum 3:18)  At the very moment when Jesus was ready to give His inner circle their most incredible revelation of His glory, they fell asleep; fortunately, they awoke just in time to experience the Lord’s transfiguration and the visitation of the two Old Testament saints. (Luke 9:28-36)

Having noted that the scriptures speak of not only the positive aspects of sleep but also the negative result of oversleeping, let’s take a quick look at some studies concerning the duration of natural sleep.  A recent study found that people today sleep one and a half hours less per night than our ancestors did a century ago.  In fact, the tendency toward less sleep is continually increasing.  A 2008 study found that only twenty-eight percent of the subjects reported getting eight hours of sleep each night, down ten percentage points from the number reported in a 2001 poll.  This lack of sufficient sleep is taking a toll on modern society.  Insufficient sleep over time has been linked to depression, decreased cognitive performance, immune suppression, blood sugar imbalance, and even obesity.  Teens with inadequate sleep tend to have higher than normal levels of rage, depression, drugs and alcohol abuse, auto accidents, and low grades.  Even one night of poor sleep can cause fatigue, memory loss, and decreased mental capacity. Since going for twenty hours without sleep can put an individual in the same state of mental disorientation as if he had a .08 blood-alcohol content, it is no wonder that drowsy drivers are responsible for fifteen hundred traffic deaths and seventy-one thousand injures each year.

On the other hand, scientific studies also indicate that oversleeping can be just as detrimental as undersleeping.  Using eight hours of sleep per night as the norm, it was discovered that men who add an extra hour actually increase their chances of dying within the next ten-year period by nineteen percent.  Women who increase their sleep by an hour also increase their chances of dying within the next ten years by a whopping thirty-five percent.  Extend that increased sleep pattern by yet an additional hour and the odds of dying within the next ten years jump up to seventy-five percent for men and one hundred twelve percent for women!  With numbers like this at stake, it is no wonder the scriptures contain at least a dozen commands to wake up! (Judges 5:12; I Kings 19:5;
Isaiah 51:9, 17, 52:1; Jonah 1:6; Zechariah 4:1; Matthew 1:24, Romans 13:11; I Corinthians 15:34; Ephesians 5:14, I Thessalonians 5:6)  It is also interesting that death is referred to as sleep at least fifty-five times in the scripture. (Deuteronomy 31:16; II Samuel 7:12; I Kings 1:21, 2:10, 11:21, 11:43, 14:20, 14:31, 15:8, 16:6, 16:28, 22:40, 22:50; II Kings 4:31, 8:24, 10:35, 13:9, 13:13, 14:16, 14:22, 15:38, 16:20, 20:21, 21:18, 24:6; II Chronicles 9:31, 12:16, 14:1, 1:13, 21:1, 26:27, 32:33, 33:20; Job 7:21, 14:12, 20:8; Psalm 13:3, 17:15, 76:6; Isaiah 26:19; Jeremiah 51:39, 51:57; Daniel 12:2; Matthew 9:24, 27:52; Mark 5:39; Luke 8:52; John 11:11-13; Acts 13:36; I Corinthians 11:30, 15:20, 15:51; Ephesians 5:14; I Thessalonians 4:14, 5:10)  Is it possible that there is more than just a metaphor at play here?  Is it possible that God is actually building on the connection between oversleeping and physical death?

Whether it is waking up from a normal sleeping period in which the Lord has refreshed our inner man while the rest has refreshed our physical man or whether it is being aroused out of lethargically excessive sleep or possibly even a night when we find it impossible to fall asleep (Esther 6:1), the real value of life comes with how we function once we have shaken ourselves and taken on the day at hand.  Think back to some of the men who received God’s directions through dreams. Had Jacob not acted on the dream instructing him as to how to breed his flocks, he would have never prospered enough to be released from servitude to Laban.  Had Pharaoh not relentlessly pursued finding someone to interpret his dream, the nation would have starved during the seven years of famine and he would not have become the wealthiest monarch on earth.  Had Joseph not responded to the angelic visitation in his dream, the whole Christmas story would read differently because Mary would have not been part of his family and, therefore, would never have gone to Bethlehem and given birth to the Christ child in the manger of the “overflow” suite at the local inn.

One inventor friend of mine testifies that a number of his inventions came to him during his sleep as a result of committing his projects to the Lord in prayer after having spent many waking hours fruitlessly seeking for a way to make them work.  Getting the revelation was one thing, but taking the idea into the laboratory and actually putting it through the litmus test of building and testing a prototype was the “proof of the pudding.”  So it is with our spiritual lives as well; when we wake up each morning, we must step out of bed with a determination to follow the promptings we have received either through our God-given dreams or from the renewed thoughts that He drops into our refreshed minds.  Just take a minute to mediate on a few of the passages that equate being awake with becoming diligently involved in God’s plans.

Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early. (Psalm 57:8)

I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, Until I find out a place for the LORD, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. (Psalm 132:4-5)

Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.  Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler. (Proverbs 6:4-5)

Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.  And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. (Mark 13:36)

And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?
 (Mark 14:37, see also Luke 22:45-46)

Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.  For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. (I Thessalonians 5:7)

By this point, we have certainly come to the understanding that both sleeping and waking have their unique benefits and that both are needed in our physical and spiritual lives.  One of God’s primary principles in scripture is the balance between work and rest.  In fact, when He instituted the weekly day of rest and sabbatical year, He even made it a capital crime to violate His rhythm of work and rest. (Exodus 23:11, 23:12, 31:15, 34:21, 35:2; Leviticus 23:3, 16:31, 23:32, 25:4, 25:5; Deuteronomy 5:14)  The scriptures that promise us seasons of rest and show that God has been active in fulfilling His promise are too numerous to mention (Exodus 33:14; Deuteronomy 3:20, 12:9, 12:10, 25:19; Joshua 1:13, 1:15, 21:44, 22:4, 23:1; Judges 3:11, 3:30, 5:31; Ruth 1:9, 3:1; II Samuel 7:1, 7:11; I Kings 5:4, 8:56; I Chronicles 22:9, 22:18, 23:25; II Chronicles 14:6, 14:7, 15:15, 20:30; Esther 9:16; Job 3:13, 3:17, 3:18, 11:18, 14:6, 17:16; Psalms 16:9, 37:7, 55:6, 94:13, 116:7, 132:14; Isaiah 14:3, 14:7, 28:12, 30:15, 57:2, 63:14; Jeremiah 6:16, 30:10, 31:2, 46:27, 50:34; Zechariah 1:11; Matthew 11:28, 11:29; Mark 6:31; Acts 2:26; II Thessalonians 1:7, Hebrews 4:1-11; Revelation 6:11, 14:13), yet we see a stark warning in the case of the tribe of Issachar who wound up in slavery because they became complacent and refused to get back up and go forward with the task at hand when they found rest from their burdens (Genesis 49:15).  Jesus gave us a parable that seems to make the point that rest and work must go hand in hand if we are to see the kingdom of God manifest in our lives:

And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.  For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. (Mark 4:26-29)

Notice that in this illustration of the kingdom, the farmer both slept and rose up during the process of producing his crop.  So it is with our spiritual lives—we must learn how to balance the rejuvenating time necessary to build up our spiritual lives with the alert, active time when we are attentive to aggressively building the kingdom.  Paul’s admonition to the church in Ephesians 5:14 is that we awake and arise from the dead, indicating that the sleep we are to abandon is the lethargic, death-like oversleeping that cripples us and renders us useless to the kingdom—not the rejuvenating well-balanced sleep necessary for our spiritual health.

Two well-loved passages—one from the Old Testament and one from the New—present this harmonious balance between restful rejuvenation and attentive alertness.  Notice how that the twenty-third Psalm juxtapositions lying down in the green pastures for the restoration of the soul with being led in the paths of righteousness and how Jesus’ famous call to the laborers and the heavy laden couples receiving His rest with taking up His yoke.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (Psalms 23:1-3)

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

Paul’s wake-up call to the church culminates with the proclamation that when we respond to Christ He will give us light—a promise that certainly reaches much further than most of us might ever imagine.  To begin to grasp what he might have been trying to communicate, let’s think back to the very beginning when light was the first thing on God’s creative agenda. (Genesis 1:3)  How often do we recite that powerful verse, “Let there be light!” without even giving a second thought as to how significant it is that light was the first order of creation.  Without light, none of the other elements of creation would have been functional.  Light is the primary source of energy in the universe.  The energy of sunlight causes plants to grow and weather patterns to develop.  Without plant life, there would be no fossil fuels to power our modern machinery, no oxygen to breath, and no food for animals or humans.  Without weather patterns, there would be no rain or snow to distribute the moisture through the planet, rendering only the coastal regions habitable.  Without rain, there would be no rivers to produce hydroelectric energy for powering the cities.  Without weather patterns of wind and currents, there would be no distribution of seeds, resulting in only isolated spots of vegetation.  Most significantly, without light there would be no warmth—yielding only a barren wasteland of nothingness.

The necessity of light is demonstrated in the story of the plagues that God leveled against Egypt as Pharaoh refused to let His people go.  As the level of devastation intensified with each plague, Moses neared his ultimate catastrophe as he called the ninth of ten calamities upon the resistant ruler—darkness.  Yet, as a sign of His sovereignty and mercy upon His own people, God ensured that the Israelites had light while the Egyptians groped in debilitating darkness. (Exodus 10:23)  It is also significant that when the Israelites did make their way out of Egypt that they were led by a pillar that manifested itself as a cloud during the daytime but as a fire of light each night. (Exodus 13:21, 14:20)  When God directed the people to build a place of worship for Him, one of the most noteworthy elements was the perpetual light from the eternal flame on the candlestick that was to never be allowed to flicker out. (Exodus 25:37, 27:20; Leviticus 24:2)

But the real question is not about how significant light is; rather, it has to do with why light is so significant.  It seems that the simple explanation is that light actually represents God Himself.  The psalmist proclaimed, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1) and the prophet declared, “The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the LORD shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.” (Isaiah 60:19)  The New Testament is even more demonstrative that Jesus is the light.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not…The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe…That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world…And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil…Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life…As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world…I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. (John 1:4, 5, 7, 9; 3:19; 8:12; 9:5; 12:46.  See also Acts 9:3, 12:7, 13:47, 22:6, 22:11, 26:13; I Timothy 6:16; I John 1:5; Revelation 21:23, 22:5)

The wonderful reality is that these are not just theological principles, but life-changing truths in that God has promised to flood us with this divine light so that we can live and walk in His very presence.

 

For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness. (Psalm 18:28)

Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance. (Psalm 89:15)

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. (Proverbs 4:18)

O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD. (Isaiah 2:5)

Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you.  Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. (John 12:35)

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (I John 1:7.  See also Psalm 104:2, 43:3, 112:4, 118:27)

Atonishing revelation is that not only are we promised to have the benefits of the light of God, we are also invited to actually become that light in our present world.  Many occult and spiritualist groups misinterpret this concept to say that we are little deities; however, this is not at all what the scriptures are intending to teach us.  Rather, we are to emit the light of God who is inside us to the point that when the world around us looks at our lives, they are able to see the God who indwells us.  In the same way that Genesis refers to the moon as a light (Genesis 1:16) when actually it is not a source of light itself but a reflection of the sun’s light, we are not lights in our own right but conduits for the light of God who is inside us. (Galatians 2:20)

Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. (I Thessalonians 5:5)

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. (I Peter 2:9.  See also Isaiah 42:6, 49:6, 60:1, 60:3; Luke 8:16, 11:33)

What should we anticipate as the result of our awaking from our God-ordained time of spiritual restoration to the realization that we are God’s light bulbs in our present society? (See also Isaiah 42:6, 49:6, 60:1, 60:3; Luke 8:16, 11:33)  First of all, it would seem that since the Word of God is considered God’s light for our lives (Psalm 119:105, 130), we would become people of the Word.  Psalm 1:2 describes a righteous man as one who meditates on the law of the Lord both day and night.  The next characteristic of a person who is filled with the light of God is that he should become an automatic witness to the unbelievers around him.  We have already noted Jesus’ words about letting our light shine from the candlestick rather than hiding it under a basket, but this is only one of many passages from both the New and Old Testaments revealing that God’s plan for all people to see His light shine into their dark worlds. (Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:16; Luke 1:79, 2:32; Acts 26:18, 26:23; II Corinthians 4:6)  In fact, this was the whole context into which the apostle introduced his spiritual wake-up call.

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light. (Ephesians 5:8)

Additionally, the people who are beacons of the light of Christ will find themselves walking in superhuman love and forgiveness for his Christian brother. (I John 2:8-10)  In that Isaiah 58:8 associates light with healing, we must conclude that people who are filled with the light of Christ would be people of healing.  Indeed, Jesus repeatedly told us that our mission was to heal the sick. (Matthew 10:7-9; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 9:1-3, 10:8-10)  Additionally, through the light of God’s wisdom and insight we should be people who are able to discern the heart of issues and to see the underlying elements that would be hidden from those who observe things with only their natural understanding (I Corinthians 4:5, Ephesians 5:13) or have even been blinded by Satan, the god of the present world order. (John 9:39-41, II Corinthians 4:4)

Unfortunately, many believers are falling far short of the God-given privileges and authority afforded us as children of light. (Luke 16:8)  Therefore we must ask the Holy Spirit to reveal inside us what are the inheritance promises conveyed to us as children of light (Colossians 1:12), and then—taking up the spiritual weaponry which only the children of light can wield (Romans 13:12)—we must aggressively contend until we see the fulfillment of the eschatological promise that the light of God’s salvation will shine among all the nations.

And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. (Revelation 21:24)