One of the great joys of Sunday afternoons is having the opportunity to relax in my recliner and take a 20 minute nap.  I find that I wake up revived and energized and ready to finish the day strong.  Sometimes, however, napping is not a good thing. 

      Take, for instance, the case of a recent China Eastern Airlines flight.  As the plane approached for it’s landing, they were unable to communicate with the tower and had to abort and circle the airfield instead.  They tried twice in English and once in Chinese to contact air traffic control, but to no avail.  It seems that the two men in the tower were taking a nap when the plane was coming in.

      In the book of Revelation, we are told of a group of people who were equally asleep on the job.  Jesus says of the church in Sardis that they think they are alive but that they are dead.  They are not awake and alert.  They are not watching.  He tells them, “Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you” (Rev. 3:3 NKJV).

      It is equally important that we as Christians today remain awake, alert, and on watch.  Jesus is coming back someday to judge the earth and all who are in it, based upon what we have done (Acts 17:30-31).  He will not send out notices of His coming, but will come “as a thief in the night” (1 Thes. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10).  A thief does not tell you at what hour he plans to break into your home.  Therefore, we need to be ready and prepared at all times.  Ask yourself, if He came back right now, would you be ready to go?