Genesis 28:16 English Standard Version (ESV) Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”

Understand that certain terms are confusing to the novice in Christ. Dead in sin, alive in Christ has a spiritual context that is not instantly understood. Jesus said of a young girl that was dead that she was merely sleeping and then raised her from the dead. Was she dead or sleeping?

Pondering these issues this morning I search the scriptures for help in understanding how we as Christians, even mature Christians, fall asleep spiritually.

This passage comes as close to my feelings on the matter as I could find.

Conscious is a state of awareness. When we are spiritually asleep we become unaware of what the Lord is doing in us or around us. It is not a matter of lack of faith nor even understanding of scriptures or teachings. When you are not paying attention in class you are still aware that you are in class.

Such is the case of spiritual sleepiness. We allow us to become unaware of His presence and efforts.

Do not feel conviction here, we all do it. It is not unlike Jesus returning to find His disciples asleep in the garden when He asked them to keep watch, twice. Human effort seems to fail us and it has nothing to do with faith or commitment.

Go out by yourself for a prayer walk. Be alone and walk as you pray. Before you know it our minds start wandering out of focus and into the realm of earthly concerns and noticing our surrounding and losing focus on the presence of the Lord, even if it is for just a moment.

That doesn’t make us unfaithful, or unloving, or uncommitted. It says we are human and we are not transformed yet. As much as we would like things to be better in our relationship with the Lord we come to a point where we fall asleep just like His disciples in the garden.

We are human.

Acts 26:14 Authorized (King James) Version (AKJ) And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

Other translations use the word goads which is a noun whereas pricks is an adverb. A goad was used to turn oxen as they were driven in their work. Pricks is the feeling that resulted in the act of using the goad which had sharps that could pierce the hide of the ox.

In connection with yesterday’s comment, the pricking of our conscience is not unlike what Saul experienced. We can see that Saul was a zealot for the Law of Moses in which he was driven by his strict interpretation of the law as he was taught. What Saul did not understand was that while He was driven by our Lord he was going right while the Lord was trying to get him to go left.

That is a form of rebellion. Saul did not know that until he was confronted by Christ Himself.

The same goes for us when we violate the law of love, we are confronted by Christ Himself.

“That was not me loving those people, it was you acting alone and failing.”

That comment was not biblical, it was experiential. When we are confronted by our Lord it is a personal moment, not meant for anyone else but ourselves. We might have similar encounters based on our own actions but we must never assume that everyone else must adhere to our own personal convictions.

Paul is relating his experience in Acts 26:14. The next thing he shared was the Lord showing him the purpose behind this encounter. Since we are all different and all have a personal relationship with our Lord, it is our responsibility to discover the purpose behind the pricking of our conscience.