Police in Adelaide, Australia, rolled up on a man sleeping behind the wheel of a parked car. The 30 year old man was driving an Audi convertible into an automatic car wash Monday and apparently fell asleep. The service attendant called the police around three o clock in the morning, because the car hadn t moved for more than an hour. Once the officers woke the driver and started to examine the care they discovered the Audi had two different license plates. With further investigation they learned that the car was reported stolen in July. So now the driver is receiving the opportunity to get a lot of sleep   on a jail cell cot.
I bet this young man had wished two things. First, that he had never stolen the car in the first place. Second, he would have stayed awake while in the stolen car. Sleeping is a great thing; it refreshes our mind and body so we can function at full capacity. However, sleeping can also produce negative consequences if done in the wrong places at the wrong times. Spiritually speaking; being asleep can bring forth many undesirable effects and events. Over and over the Holy Spirit tells us be sober, be alert, be attentive. In other words we are to WAKE UP, because the consequences for sleeping spiritually can be eternal. That is what our sermon will speak of; waking up to what God makes available to us: Waking up and using the wisdom, understanding, and power that is ours. If we slumber through life we may just wake up behind bars.