Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

Jonah was travelling “away from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:3), sleeping in the inner part of the ship, below deck  (I’m sure it has a name I don’t know). He was oblivious to the storm that the sailors on deck were fighting to stay alive in. He really wasn’t all that interested in anything but what was happening with him. If they could fight the storm and he didn’t have to deal with it that was fine with him.

I heard a teacher apply Jonah’s sleeping to what is happening in our nation. While Christians sleep our country is awash in the storm of abortions, pornography, fornication, homosexuality, blasphemy, sloth, and the tearing down of the family. Feel free to add to the list.

How many of us are asleep, allowing these issues to continue to grow without a fight?

Why do we Christians talk about the inerrancy of God’s word and then ignore the black and white, right and wrong spelled out in it? We  try to blend into the culture rather than be separate from it, which is what the scripture demands of us. 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 say, “Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Being separate from the world does not mean being absent or avoiding the fight.  It means that we won’t always look like the rest of the world or talk like them.  It means that we will stand firm for the Truths of the Bible in the face of opposition. We will do the right thing when others encourage us to do the wrong thing, even if that encouragement comes from within the church.

Christians, are we asleep below deck while the world mocks the Lord and His law above it? Are we worshiping God on Sunday but refusing to stand for His principles publicly all week long?

Many seem to think that because we are Christians we cannot be enemies or have enemies. Our enemies are to be those who are the enemies of God (Psalm 139:19-22). Our choice here is clear: We who wholeheartedly love the Lord can fight the wrong, or we can sleep with His enemies.

Sleep or fight?