Why do you suppose Sleepy was so sleepy all through the movie of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I wonder… Did he get up early and stay up later than the others doing extra chores? Did the other dwarfs snore so loudly at night that he couldn’t sleep? Whatever the reason, it was evident that he needed rest in the worst way. I’ve never seen eyelids that heavy without being closed.

We recently had a 4 year old little girl for a houseguest. What a blessing. She is sweet, loving, fun and talkative. So talkative in fact that when we were driving in the car one evening, I noticed that she had quit talking. I looked back at her and she was sound asleep in her car seat with her head down in front of her. Why she didn’t lean back or to one side or the other I don’t know. The only thing that kept her from nose-diving to the floorboard of the car was her seat belt straps. I couldn’t reach her but thankfully we were almost home so she didn’t stay that way for long. Unlike Sleepy in the movie, she perked up and the talking resumed as soon as she got out of the car. So cute.

We all get sleepy. We all get tired. We all need sleep and we all need rest – physical and spiritual. God set an example for us when after creating the heavens and the earth, he rested on the 7^th day and made it holy (Genesis 2:2-3). Jesus took the apostles to a quiet place to rest (Mark 6:31). What we must ask ourselves though is do we need and get appropriate sleep and rest or are we just plain lazy. I know I find myself in both situations at different times. Here are some warnings to us about laziness:

Proverbs 19:15 “Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry.”

Proverbs 20:13 “Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.”

Lessons I learned from Sleepy:  As believers and followers of Christ, God provides rest for our souls and urges us to get adequate physical sleep and rest. However, I am reminded to do a little self-examination and make sure that my rest doesn’t turn to laziness.