Is Too Much Sleep a Sin?

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

So how long are you going to laze around doing nothing? How long before you get out of bed? Proverbs 6:9

If you love to sleep, you will be poor. If you stay awake, you will have plenty of food. Prov 20.13

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These are hard hitting words for someone who loves to sleep(*sigh).  Even worse, many translations use the word "sluggard", which means "lazy person", not just one who loves to sleep. Just ask my family.....any of them, even extended family know this about me.  When I was a teenager I slept until noon.....literally, almost every day.  If my children would not come to find me in the mornings, I could still stay in bed that long.  I make excuses to my husband that I just need more sleep than most people.  Sounds reasonable doesn't it?

But I have come to discover that I don't think God agrees with me.  Why?  Because in the last several weeks of my time in the Word, this theme keeps popping up.  Now you know most of us Christians don't believe in that kind of coincidence!  That means the Holy Spirit is trying to tell me something, if I am willing to listen.  Is sleep itself a sin? No.  We all know we need rest and  God commanded rest, but too much rest can lead to sin.  If I would rather sleep than serve my family, I am being selfish.  If I would rather sleep than be intimate with my husband, I am not keeping the honor of my marriage vows and God's plan of submission, as my body is not my own. If I would rather sleep than  put in hours working, I am not helping my family financially.  See where it can lead?  And I have done all those things!

I decided several weeks ago that I really needed to concentrate on getting up earlier than my kids this summer to establish a CONSISTENT quiet time.  I can't say as it has ever been consistent, as my times always varied when I would scratch out some time to sit quietly and read or pray.  But my guilt about sleeping half the morning away each summer morning really began to wear on me.  When I was getting up at 9 or later, the kids were already very awake and moving on with their day.  I was getting up and being thrown into the day's activities without having even gotten my bearings for the morning.  It was making me even more grumpy than not enough sleep!  I have now been getting up around 7:30 to head out to my patio for prayer and study.  And I am loving it!

I know for morning people, this seems like a trite problem to have.  But I have never been a morning person.  I have even prayed for God to make me a morning person.  But that would be too easy.  Then it would require no sacrifice from me.  Look, I even used the word sacrifice, like I am really suffering by getting up earlier! 

Deep seeded mindsets can be an extreme challenge to overcome.  I have rationalized my sleep needs for a long time with varied excuses. Satan loves the strongholds he places on our minds. I have now laid them down at the foot of the Cross and asked the Lover of my Soul to change me.  Only He can be my strength and power in weakness.  Surrender.

Do you have something you need to release to the Throne?