In Touch

Dear Young Disciples,

My friends and I had been canoeing for several days. The weather had been great—sunny and warm, hardly any rain, and not too much wind. But still, after hours and days of paddling out in the elements, we were getting tired.

That night as we ate supper, “Ian” vowed he was going to bed as soon as he’d washed his dishes. We laughed. He couldn’t be serious. The rest of us planned to take a walk to a massive waterfall close to camp. Who would miss that? Besides, it was only six o’clock, and hours from sundown!


As it turned out, we couldn’t convince Ian to come see the waterfall. And sure enough, when we got back, Ian was sprawled out on the ground in his sleeping bag—fast asleep. He hadn’t even bothered to put up a tent! And he slept right through all the noise of camp cleanup and evening worship.

As I sneaked up to snap a picture of him, I chuckled. I was tired, too, but I couldn’t imagine sleeping with so much going on!

Then I remembered Christ’s parable of the ten virgins, who also slept through exciting times. They represent Christians at the end of time—lazily going about life, hardly noticing all the signs of Christ’s soon coming. Surely the angels must wonder how we could possibly be sleeping through it!

Do you ever find yourself spiritually drowsy? If so, ask God for a wake-up call. You’ll find one in Romans 13:11–14.

Your friend,