I personally do not mind staying awake later into the night as long as there is something to hold my attention or things to do worth staying awake for. Do not misunderstand, I enjoy sleep, but if there is something that I am excited about, I find it easy to stay awake. If you are like me, you are usually the one that makes the decision to go bed or keep staying up. I cannot be persuaded one way or another.
To me, I think scripture explains the situation perfectly. It is interesting to think about what Jesus meant by his repetition of the phrase “stay awake” in the context of Mark 13:32-37 (ESV) where it is repeated four different times. It seems Jesus thought that it was worth repeating; but why? Jesus is speaking with the disciples about staying ready for the pending judgement day. Jesus uses a word picture to illustrate his point; imagine a man is returning from a trip. He tells his servants to keep watch at the door so the master can enter into his home upon his arrival. Think of the frustration the master would have if his servants were found sleeping and the master could not enter his own home after traveling. I know I would be highly upset!
This story leads us to one question; would you change anything if you knew that Jesus was coming today? Obviously, if you knew Jesus was coming you might prepare your best for him. You might drop everything you were doing at that current time to go and prepare for the Messiah to come see you. Yet, why would we choose to tarry in our preparation for our master’s return? We all know souls who choose to neglect their preparation, and even forego their dedication to him. In 1 Peter 5:5 we can see the Devil is wide awake and he is working. We are warned also to stay awake and be aware of his conniving ways too. Scripture emphasizes the necessity to “stay awake”, therefore, we should take heed of its wisdom and stay awake for Jesus’ return.
Logan Baldwin