Arise Out of Thy Sleep Prov. 6:6-9 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Prov 6:9 asks, “When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?” This question is addressed to a sluggard. You say, “Well, I’m not one of those.” Are you sure? A sluggard is not only one who is habitually lazy but also one who is “idle.” See “idle” in Matt 20:1-6. And as it concerns the Lord’s harvest, is you are not working in the harvest, you are idle. And if you are idle, you are a sluggard. Here’s the problem with sluggards:
The sluggard won’t follow her guide – Prov 6:7 – the Holy Spirit is our guide [Jn 16:13] – and he is leading us [Rom 8:14] to witness [Acts 1:8].
The sluggard won’t listen to her overseer – Prov 6:7 – your pastor is your overseer [Acts 20:28; 1 Pet 5:1-3] – and he is an ensample that you can follow in witnessing – he feeds you spiritual food so that you will be nourished to do this work – and as an ensample he is working in the harvest sowing seed and witnessing to the lost.
The sluggard won’t follow her ruler – Prov 6:7 – Jesus is your King and your Lord and he instructed you and me to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature [Mk 16:15].
The sluggard won’t provide her meat – Prov 6:8 – the worker ants are female – the bride of Christ is also female – so the reference to her can easily be applied to us – in Jn 4:32-34 – Jesus explained that “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” Our meat, our spiritual nourishment, is directly connected with our work in the harvest. You are as spiritually weak as a sluggard is undernourished when you don’t witness.
The sluggard won’t gather her food – Prov 6:8 – in Ex 16:16-18 they all gathered the manna in the wilderness – even though some gathered more and some less they all had the right amount – when you come to church to hear the preaching and teaching, you are gathering your food – when you skip services you are like this sluggard and you are spiritually weakened and your work in the harvest is diminished.
The sluggard suffers her poverty – Prov 6:11 – in other words, the only loss is not to the Lord of the harvest but also to the sluggard who didn’t witness – at the judgment seat of Christ you suffer the loss [1 Cor 3:15; 1 Cor 3:8].
The sluggard suffers her want – Prov 6:11 – see 2 Tim 2:6-7 – you don’t partake of the fruits of the harvest.
Note: It only takes a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep to miss the harvest; it doesn’t take a lot [Prov 6:10]
Conclusion: So the question is, “When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?” You need to quit being idle and go to work in the harvest.