Sleeping at the wheel.

While working on my Theology degree I used to spend my breaks from Uni working on a wheat property in Western NSW. In July 1975 I was there plowing the fields ready for the wheat. The fields were very large and would take over an hour to go around just once. The Tractor worked 24/6. It was cold but the cab was warm. It was lonely but the radio broke the monotony. However, this did not stop me getting sleepy in the wee small hours of the morning. Sometimes I would get so tired that I had to just stop and put my arms on the steering wheel and lay my head on my arms and take a quick nap.

On one occasion, I just fell asleep as I drove. The danger of this was that the paddock had large Kurrajong trees dotted over it and sleeping at the wheel could be disastrous (disaster-ross.) I don’t know how long I slept for, but when I came back to reality I was lost in the dark. My tractor had headed off into the paddock drunkenly plowing as it went. All I could do now was lift my plow out of the soil and follow my trail back to where I first left ‘the way.” I was actually amazed at how far I had travelled and how lost I had become. The hope now was that I could plow fast enough to cover my mistake before the boss arrived in the morning and saw, in the full light of day, where I had been in the darkness.

Concerning the last days Paul said, “Let us not sleep, as do others, but let us keep awake and be sober.” “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night…but we are not in the darkness for that day to surprise you like a thief.” (1 Thess. 5:1-6) If we are in tune with God’s word, we know the devil’s schemes because they are revealed to us. As with Eve, he gained her interest, aroused her attention, appealed to her senses, emotions, and intellect and thereby led her astray. The devil’s final plan is no different. Through “Power…pretended signs and wonders…wicked deception…and lying delusions.” He will lead astray the entire world. (2 Thess.2:9-12. Matt.24:24, Rev.13:13,14) People today believe in their ‘own’ subjective truth. But the Bible declares there is only one truth! Jesus said He was “the way, the truth and the life.” This is the only way through the maze of this world’s satanic deceptions.

The darkness of our spiritual journey is fraught with dangers, (Kurrajong trees) these are the last days of earth’s rebellion, “seducing spirits and the doctrines of devils” abound. (1 Tim 4:1.)  If it appears that the darkness of this present evil age is encompassing us, where is our only safety? The dangerous sophistry of the enemy continues to subordinate the changeless and absolute sovereignty of God’s law, to the caprice of human authority and the whims of culture. Jesus said the devil has been a liar from the beginning. (John 8:44.) Just as he was in Eden, to our very first parents. Knowing and following the path of His word, which “is a lamp to guide our feet and a light for our path.” is our only security. (Psalm 119:105.)  The abyss of error can be avoided by the word of God alone.

So, we must put on the whole armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18), praying for the Holy Spirit’s discernment to detect the most subtle deceptions of our unsleeping foe. This is not the time to fall asleep at the wheel!