A Theology of Sleep

Why do we sleep? Our modern obsession with productivity views sleep as a hindrance or a burden. Sleep is usually one of the first things that we sacrifice to maintain the pace of our busy lives. We quote passages like Proverbs 6:10-11: “A little sleep, a little slumber… and poverty will come upon you like a robber”. We convince ourselves that we are following the example of our Lord when we rise “very early in the morning” (Mark 1:35) or work well after “sundown” (Mark 1:32). Didn’t the apostle Paul “not cease night or day to admonish everyone” (Acts 20:31)?

While the Bible condemns laziness and sloth, it also warns us against neglecting rest. At creation God “blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested” (Gen. 2:3). Rest was part of God’s design for the world, even before the Fall. Jesus confirms that God did this for our sake: “The Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27). The cycle of day and night was part of God’s design; the God-ordained rhythm for our lives.

Jesus, as the incarnate Son of God, understood this. Jesus slept (Mark 4:38). Jesus also encouraged his disciples to rest after a season of intense ministry (Mark 6:31). God created us in such a way that we need sleep. However, it would be wrong to view sleep simply as a necessity. It is also a gift: “It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” (Ps. 127:2). Only God does not sleep: “he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” (Ps. 121:4).

Sleep reminds us that God is God and that we are not. God does his work, keeps his children, and sustains the world all while we are sound asleep. Sleep is a reminder that we need God. Understood this way, sleep becomes an act of worship and faith.

Why don’t you sleep? Maybe we sleep less than we need to, because we don’t trust God as much as we should.

Because of Christ,
Pastor Pieter