When I was in high school I sometimes stayed up way too late on the weekends. This wasn’t usually a problem because I could sleep in a bit Saturday and Sunday mornings. But then I took a job on Saturday mornings 8-noon cleaning a school. The tiredness really hit me when I drove home from work one day, and I found myself fighting against falling asleep at the wheel. I did okay for a while but then somehow tricked myself into thinking it would be a good idea to just close my eyes for a second. You know, kind of like a very short power nap that refreshes you.
Next thing I knew I was bouncing up and down because I went off the road and was driving on someone’s front yard. I quickly assessed if it was better to go to the left of the telephone pole or the right of the tree. I decided that neither option was best but that I’d take my Honda Civic (my dad’s Honda Civic) safely in between the pole and the tree. I’m not sure why I didn’t just hit the breaks.
Once I got through the pole and tree I would be in the clear and could maybe even drive right back on the road. Good plan! Well, the space between the pole and tree was about an inch too narrow so the car went through partially but then got stuck. Because it was 1985, wearing a seat belt was optional, so my head smashed into the windshield pretty hard. It was only a small cut but blood gushed all down my face and onto my t-shirt.
This was on Main Street in my hometown, about 100 yards from the police station and 150 yards from the fire station. Several police cars and a rescue vehicle were there in less than two minutes. Then, a tow truck. Traffic was backed up in both directions. Across the street there was a house having some kind of family reunion, so they all came over to watch the excitement. All this because I decided to take a tiny power nap.
Looking back on the story, it’s funny, but it wasn’t funny at all at the time. I could have easily drifted the other way across the lane and hit a car head on. I could have died. I could have killed someone or seriously injured someone. And it would have happened because for a few short seconds I was not alert.
Spiritual alertness
In driving, it is extremely dangerous to not be alert. The same is true in the spiritual life. We are called to be alert.
(pray) at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. — Ephesians 6:18
This admonition to “keep alert” doesn’t mean that we should never sleep. It’s not even possible to keep alert in the natural 24-7. It’s referring to spiritual alertness. We should always be vigilant and on guard against anything that would corrupt us or pull us away from Christ.
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we are told that the evil one throws “flaming darts” at us. These darts aren’t literal but the metaphor was vivid to those Paul was writing to. One small flaming dart could burn down an entire house unless it was extinguished quickly. This is exactly how sin works. All it needs is a small opening in order to set a life ablaze with corruption. That’s why we need to keep alert!
So keeping alert isn’t about staying awake physically. We all need rest; sometimes we are sleepy (like I am as I write this). But we are called to absolute spiritual vigilance every minute of every day. There is never a time to close our eyes, even for a second as I did driving. All it takes is a moment of letting our guard down for sin to enter.
Subtle and seductive
Nothing squelches our pursuit of God more than sin, right? If we allow it to sneak in, it begins to do its destructive work of entangling us, clouding our vision of Jesus and pulling us away from the Lord.
Think of sin as something that seeks to invade the heart. It’s not that temptation to sin always comes from outside. It can also come from our sinful nature. But regardless of which direction it comes from it aims to corrupt us.
It rarely presents itself in obvious ways. It doesn’t knock on the door of our heart and say, “Hello, I’m sin and I want to come in and vandalize everything.” It’s much more subtle than that. Sin is often dressed up in something that doesn’t seem evil at all. It’s dressed as a nice mail carrier delivering a package. So we need sharp discernment in order to stay alert.
Sin isn’t always subtle though. Sometimes it is not disguised at all but just comes with direct seductive persuasive force. In other words, we know it’s sin but it appears so enticing, so attractive, so promising—that we just want it even though we know it’s sin. Being alert isn’t just about noticing an invasion happening but it’s about resisting.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith … — 1 Peter 5:8-9
Attainable
Sin gains entry into our hearts when it tricks us by disguising itself as something that isn’t sin, or by coming with an almost irresistible persuasive force that promises pleasure. The idea of being alert 24-7 to this threat can seem impossible but it’s really not. In fact, you and I have this kind of perfect alertness in many areas of our lives.
I already mentioned driving. All good drivers are alert every second they are driving. It’s really not that hard to do. And if we failed to be alert for two seconds and caused a twenty car pile up on the highway and injured dozens of people, the judge would not be sympathetic if we said, “Well, most of the time I’m very alert. Nobody’s perfect.” It is expected that all drivers can be alert 100% of the time.
How about our alertness to the smell of smoke in our houses? If we are in the house, even if we are engrossed in a book, preparing a meal or relaxing on the couch, we are very alert to the smell of smoke. Even if we were groggy we would snap to it quickly and scour the house to see if there was a fire. We all know that a fire can consume a house in minutes. So we are alert at all times.
You may know that chocolate is very dangerous for dogs. In our house we love chocolate, and you might find chocolate in any number of little hidden places around the house. Because we love our dog, Jack, we are on high alert all the time to make sure there is never a piece of chocolate accessible to him. Sometimes we drop a chocolate chip on the ground by accident. Jack naturally comes running toward it—as he does any kind of food that, in his mind, falls from heaven—and we make a snap decision whether to pounce on him or the chocolate.
Caring makes us alert
My point is that when we care about something or someone we suddenly have the ability to be hyper alert. It works the same way in our spiritual lives. Motivation is everything. If we read verses in the Bible that tell us to be alert, our ability to do it greatly depends on the underlying motivation. If we strive to be alert because, well, it seems like we should, or because the Bible says so, or because we are scared of going to hell—these kinds of motivations are not going to hold up for long. Oh, we might be alert for a week, or a month, but we won’t be able to sustain perfect alertness day after day, year after year.
As I write this I’m looking out at the ocean at Rocky Point Park where I live. It’s one of the places I come to get alone. If I was walking through the woods and saw some termites eating away at a twig or random piece of wood on the ground, I wouldn’t even care. However, if I was building my family a house, with all the money I had saved and by the daily sweat of my labor—I would notice! if a group of menacing termites was eating the house. I would be alert because I care about what I’m building.
The more we build our relationship with Christ, the more we will be motivated to protect the thing we are building. The more we treasure Christ, the more we will be vigilant to guard what we treasure.
Valid concerns
Some might worry that you won't be able to detect the subtleties of sin. How will we recognize sin? Or maybe you’re worried that the enticement will be too much to resist. Be encouraged by this promise:
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. — 1 Corinthians 10:13
These are valid concerns that you might have. Sin can be very powerful and it can be hard to detect. There are practical things that we can do to sharpen alertness and strengthen resistance like read Scripture. The plain reading of the Bible develops in us the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. But even that’s not enough. Because we can know a thing is wrong but not care enough to resist it. Or we can even willfully deceive ourselves into thinking something isn’t wrong because we want to keep doing the thing.
In conclusion
What I’m saying is that when you care about your relationship with God more than anything in the world you suddenly become very skilled at being alert to any kind of sin that tries to sneak into your heart. When we treasure Christ, when we enjoy intimacy with Him, when we are building something beautiful with Him—we will guard it.
It is imperative in our spiritual lives that we “keep alert with all perseverance” but this is only possible as we make Christ our treasure. May we learn to love God with heart, mind, soul and strength. May we make Him our all. May He become our supreme joy. May all our springs be in Him and may we be captivated by His love more and more. Amen.