Tuesday 11 March 2008

Wasting Sleep

2
Psalm 127:2
"It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep."


I sat up late last night watching TV - 1st I watched Flash Gordon from 9-10pm, then Lost from 10-11pm. Then I realized that I'd still to make bottles up for Jacob, so it was around 11:30 before I got to bed.

There are a few reasons why it is stupid for me to stay up late, even at the best of times:

1 - My alarm goes off at 5:45am in an attempt to get me up for work
2 - My son of 11 months is a terrible sleeper and usually wakes us quite a few times through the night, usually ending up in our bed at some point where he tends to kick me a lot with a perfect aim for my groin - this wakes me from even a deep sleep. [I have also to mention here that Barbara is the one who for the most part visits Jacob through the night when he calls out, she's great!]
3 - Though TV may be entertaining and I do not think it is all together wrong, it can be a waste of time in which better things could be done. I could have went to bed earlier with Barbara and had time for devotions and prayer, which would be more profitable, and still got to sleep early!

There are also a few results of my sitting up late:

1 - I'm tired the next day, and often for days after that.
2 - I am in less than ideal physical condition for work the following day.
3 - I am in less than ideal physical condition for family life.
4 - I am in less than ideal condition for exercise.
5 - I am in less than ideal mental condition for work, family, friends etc
6 - I am in less than ideal mental condition for any ministry opportunities.
7 - I am in less than ideal mental condition for prayer.
8 - I am in less than ideal mental condition for Bible study.
9 - I find that when I neglect sleep that a down or melancholy mood hangs over me.
10-I tend to let my guard against temptation and sin drop.
11-My 'darkside' of impatients, sarcasm, snappyness etc rise.
12-I become lazy (yes, even more than normal), and neglect many things that ought to be done.
13-My concentration in every area is low.
14-Worst of all my walk with God seems cold and less vibrant, my enthusiasm and love seem to decline, or at best seem to dull.

In Conclusion
One of the worst aspects of last nights lateness is that for the first time Jacob slept right through the night without waking! I could have had an amazing nights sleep.
God gave my body (which is a temple of the Holy Spirit),along with my mind an opportunity to rest and revive itself, which I wasted.
My waste of time and my general failure even at other times, to redeem the time and use it wisely is something that I need to repent over and to work at. At nights, certainly, my time would be better spent taking the opportunity to rest my body, soul and mind with God given sleep.

What about you? How do you find yourself using the night, the time God has given for rest and sleep? Perhaps like me you need to work at it and to repent over wasted time in general!
Sleep is something that God has made for our good and our benefit, how do we use and enjoy this great gift from God?
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About Boaly
Gary has been involved in printing the Scriptures for 20 years, enjoys photography and rambling online

2 comments:

Stephen Altrogge said...

Gary,

I can relate. I often find myself staying up too late doing stupid stuff like playing video games or looking around on the internet. I end up getting less than enough sleep. I want to use my sleep better.

Boaly said...

Stephen, don't mention video games! A while back I decided to give my xbox away. I found myself going through seasons with it; either allowing it to gather dust or playing it non-stop and to early hours of the morning!
So easy to waste time at night really doing nothing at all and arise the next day with huge bags under the eyes!

Thanks for commenting!