Arise from Slumber 2

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Valuable Lessons from Two Prostitutes – 1^st Kings Chapter 3 verses 16 to 28

They were both prostitutes, the trade they chose for themselves.

They both lived in the same house where they probably practiced their trade. In the course of time, they both got pregnant and they both had sons – three days apart. The mother of the living baby was the first to have a child and three days later, her house or roommate also had a son. Great women, great job because they took to caring for their sons despite not having husbands or live in partners. Their love of motherhood and care for their sons is highly commendable.

However, both women had terrible weaknesses. They loved sleep, real deep sleep; probably the type of sleep described by the Psalmist in psalm 13 verse 3, and the writer of Proverbs in Proverbs Chapters 6 verses 4 to 10, 24 verses 30 to 34.

Unfortunately, this great love of sleep cost one of the prostitutes a great loss – the death of her son. She slept so deep that she lay on her son and crushed the baby to death with her weight. Beloved, sleep is refreshing and wonderful for anyone and much so for women who have just given birth so that their bodies can recuperate fast from the rigors of carrying the foetus for nine months; and the travail of childbirth as well as the accompanying blood loss. However, every woman has just given birth to a baby sleeps with one eye open and two ears wide open. Why? Because the baby needs care and could cry for food and attention at any point in time. Even women who share beds with their husbands do not travel in sleep because they have a baby to look after. But these two young women, alone with their babies really slept deep. You may say only one of them did, the one who lay on her baby. But I beg to disagree. The two of them slept deep. How?

The woman with the dead baby must have been startled out from sleep by whatever or she probably got tired of sleeping. But for whatever reason, she woke up in the middle of the night as narrated by the mother of the living baby who was fast asleep. Immediately the mother of the dead baby realized that she had crushed her son to death because of deep sleep, she became wide awake and quickly strategized. She exchanged the babies; her dead son for the living son of the first woman who was still fast asleep. And while these was happening, the first woman who is also the mother of the living baby was fast asleep. She did not hear a sound, not even the sound of her baby being moved from her side and a dead one dropped by her sides. Some sleep, if you ask me!

Beloved, my prayer is that God in His infinite mercy will deliver His children from the sleep which makes them unaware of the plans and activities of the enemy targeted at destroying them or creating havoc in their lives.

The second woman had lost a son while the first woman was about to lose her son. Fortunately, certain characteristics in the life of the first woman coupled with the wise and sound judgment by King Solomon saved her son and helped her.

The first woman was observant. She knew the specific features of her baby and thus knew that the dead baby was not hers. Otherwise, she would never have gone to the King. She would have taken the dead child as hers and resigned herself to fate. But the knowledge she had of her son’s physical features gained from careful observation made her go to the King. After probably arguing with the second woman to no avail, she took the matter to the King for judgment.

Secondly, the first woman had compassion and that was what eventually helped in deciding the case. The second woman did not care about who owned the living baby as she assented to the King’s decision to cut the living baby in two halves as the two women could each have a piece of the baby. But the first woman could not stand and watch her living baby cut in pieces; and eventual death. So she begged the King to give the living baby to the second woman who was adamant that the living baby should be cut in two. The King then realized that the first woman was the mother of the living baby and ruled that the baby be given to its real mother. God bless discerning King Solomon.

But there are apt lessons to be learnt from this story. It may be about prostitutes but there are life lessons worthy of anyone’s attention including nations. While sleep is good and needful, too much of it, too deep a sleep can result in great losses.

Arise from Slumber

Written by Uyoyou Christiana Charles-Iyoha

Sleep is good. This is because the human body is divinely designed to rest, heal and rejuvenate during sleep, albeit quality sleeps devoid of worries, anxiety, fears and probably nightmares. However, too much sleep is not good for the body just as too little sleep or lack of sleep is not good for the body.

Significantly, sleep is not just physical. There is also spiritual sleep, a situation where a person goes to sleep spiritually. That is to say that you relax your spiritual oars, no Bible reading and study, no fervent prayers, no waiting on God, no praise and worship sessions, no evangelism, you are complacent, laid back, lackadaisical and non chalant about your Christian life and you even take sin for granted. Beloved, this is a dangerous spiritual state that if left to slide further can spell disaster.

The Bible records that a young man named Eutychus  was overcome by sleep and fell from the third story of the building to the ground floor. Quite instructive is the fact that Eutychus was at a deeply spiritual meeting – the Apostle Paul was leaving Troas for good the following day. So he decided to speak to the believers there as well as break bread with them. It was in the midst of this meeting that Eutychus chose to sleep and even as he sank into deep sleep, it did not occur to him to leave the window sill where he was sitting to a less dangerous place to sleep in; or better still, stand up and walk around to shake off the sleep. He slept on till sleep took the better part of him and he fell down dead.

Fortunately and to the glory of God, the Apostle Paul was used by God to minister life to him and he was brought back to life.

Beloved, spiritual sleep is dangerous and should not be toyed with. It is actually a satanic tool and trap with which the enemy plants thorns and thistles in the lives of the children of God. Please read Matthew Chapter 13 verses 24 to 30, Proverbs Chapters 24 verses 30 to 34, 6 verses 4 to 11, 10 verse 5. It is also the sleep of death, death to a new life in Christ Jesus. Please read Psalm 13 verse 3. It is a snare that should be avoided at all costs as it brings unpalatable consequences and is a harbinger of negative circumstances such as the great poverty which came upon the young man devoid of understanding in Proverbs chapter 24 who left his vineyard to go to seed because of his lack of control over sleep.