Sleeping with your boots on

Normal people don’t crawl into bed with their boots on!  Which means, I’m not normal- since I’ve spent many nights sleeping with my boots on my feet.

As an American soldier sleeping in the Middle Eastern deserts or the jungles of central America I ALWAYS slept with my boots on. I slept with my boots on because I was in a combat zone.  I was going to sleep in enemy territory. I knew before I even laid my head down to sleep that at a moment I could be surrounded by enemy soldiers. Sleeping with my boots on made it possible for me to get up and to respond to the enemy’s presence in an instant.

Jesus gives an analogy about what it’s like to live as a spiritual person in a secular world in Luke 12:35-36.  Jesus expects his people to wait with the great anticipation for his return. The idea that Jesus paints in these verses is going to sleep fully dressed, wearing boots, with the light on!

The people who go to bed wearing boots generally don’t expect to get a good night sleep.   It’s not that comfortable to sleep with your boots on your feet.    I think Jesus understood this principle. I think one of the things Jesus is challenging us to do is to be willing to be uncomfortable with the world that we see around us.

If you are a spiritual person living in a physical world, you will be less satisfied with material possessions.   Being a spiritual person means that you long for something that only the spiritual realm can provide.   You’re longing for something more than this world has to offer.  In other words, the stuff that makes everyone else around you comfortable only leaves you wanting more! This is what it means to be willing to sleep with your boots on. This is what it means to be willing to be less comfortable here longing for the hereafter.

Why would anybody be willing to constantly sleep with their boots on their feet?    Jesus is calling his people to sleep with their boots on because their longing for a reward from him. That reward is described in Luke 12:37.   Jesus is returning. You can’t miss that from these verses in the Bible. Jesus promises to reward his people who are faithful when he returns.

Jesus expects us to be able to read the signs of the times. He uses the weather patterns in the Middle East as an example of being able to read the signs of the times. He says in Luke 12: 54-56 if you’re able to learn that it’s going to rain by watching the clouds you should also be able to learn that Jesus is going to return by watching the signs of the times. In other words, Jesus doesn’t want us to be ignorant about the fact that he will return.

Notice, he never gives an indication about when he will return.  He just points out the fact that he will return one day. I think if Jesus would’ve told us exactly when he would return many people would wait to the last second to follow him.  The very fact that he doesn’t hint at all about when he will return means you need to be ready at any moment. He will reward his servants who are waiting patiently, expectantly for his return.  What is the reward that Jesus offers people who are faithful until his return? He offers himself!  His reward is eternal life in Heaven with him. All of Jesus, all of the time, for all eternity is the reward for the faithful! That’s a reward worth waiting for!