Note: This is a recycled post . I made quite a few edits.
Sleep is important. Getting quality, regular, and enough sleep is important. Lack of good REM sleep can even cause depression. But Jesus tells us to stay awake. What does he mean? Are you awake?
Are you woke or awake ? S2 E13 – Blue Skies and Green Pastures with Paula Adams
https://anchor.fm/blueskiesandgreenpastures/episodes/Are-you-woke-or-awake—S2-E13-e1f84r7
Why people have to wake up
When Satan tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she decided to eat it because she thought it could make her ‘wise like God’. However , her disobedience actually caused the world to become foolish and blind, not wise. Because of Eve, humans now know good and evil, but unfortunately all mankind from that point is born separated from God. This is what Christians call The Fall or original sin.
Thus, sin makes us like zombies, walking around like living people, but dead inside. Acting like we are awake, but actually living in an illusion. We are like animals living by instinct. We think we are in control, but we are slaves to sin. Only by ‘waking up’ can we truly be wise. This is done by faith in Jesus. More on that below.
What does the Bible say about being awake?
The apostle Paul speaking to the Gentile believers of the church at Thessalonica says:
5 About the times and the seasons: Brothers, you do not need anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains come on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in the dark, for this day to overtake you like a thief. 5 For you are all sons of light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness. 6 So then, we must not sleep, like the rest, but we must stay awake and be serious. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, we must be serious and put the armor of faith and love on our chests, and put on a helmet of the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.
1 Thessalonians 5
First , Paul is not saying that we should literally never go to sleep. He is using sleeping as a figure of speech to mean living a mindless life focused on our own pleasures and earthly concerns. Second, he mentions that people will be saying ‘Peace and security!’. This means that life on earth will seem to be going along as normal, maybe even very good for some people when Jesus returns, despite the wars, plagues, and weather disasters that are happening in many places. There will be extremes of wealth and poverty, plenty and lack, power and slavery.
The modern day prophets known as politicians and media will not warn the world that God’s wrath is coming.
Then he compares being asleep to being drunk and being awake to being serious, having faith, love and hope. In verse 9, he uses the terms awake or asleep in a different way, referring to being alive or dead in the physical body. This means that even if you die physically on earth, if you are a believer, you will have eternal life with Him.
Noah was awake
In Matthew 24 Jesus uses the example of the Great Flood to explain that in those days life was going on as normal until the rain started. The Bible doesn’t give a lot of details , but we can assume that people knew about Noah building the ark.
The Bible says God flooded the world because everyone was evil in those days, but that Noah found favor with God. The people probably dismissed Noah as a crackpot or worse.
And when Jesus returns, despite being warned, the world will be surprised by what is going to happen , but then it will be too late. See Genesis chapters 7 and 8 for more details.
[7] By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Hebrews 11:7
37 And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the [p]coming of the Son of man. 38 For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, 39 and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the [q]coming of the Son of man.
Matthew 24:36
How do we wake up?
Being awake or ready does not mean prepping for disaster (although that’s not a bad idea), or joining a doomsday cult, or that you have to walk around in sackcloth and ashes. It does not meaning joining the Jehovah Witness cult.
It does not mean being ‘woke’ to the oppressive political structures such as racism or classism, or ‘awake’ to the lies that have been told about history, science, evolution, etc. . You don’t have to a Christian to see that the world is broken and we have been lied to.
In fact, focusing on political drama, which some call being ‘awake’ , can actually distract people from looking for the underlying spiritual causes. There is no human coming to save us from corrupt politicians. Ultimately, only God can save us. And to truly understand the evil source of all that political drama, you need to be truly awakened by God.
There is only one way to be awake and ready, you must be born again.
There are many ways to describe being awakened. It is both an instant legal change (justification) and the ongoing process (sanctification) of having your mind transformed from one controlled by the flesh to one devoted to pleasing God. When you are born again and awake, the Holy Spirit reveals to you the things of God in the scriptures that unbelievers cannot understand.
Some people call it accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Others say you ask Jesus into your heart. Others call it being regenerated. You can also call it getting saved.
Being awake means that your sins have been forgiven and your status with God moved from CONDEMNED to SAVED. When this happens, you wake up! Instead of being unaware of the coming judgment and living in a false reality or dream that everything is fine, you are awake to the truth that Jesus is coming back soon to judge the unbelievers!
But being awake also means that you live your life in new ways that reflect that you belong to God now. After you are saved, you will want to obey and love God and love people in all the many ways that this can be done. Your focus changes.
You do not become instantly perfect, but your awareness of God’s great mercy and holiness makes you humble and ready to submit to His will.
If you have no desire to follow Jesus and live a life pleasing to God, you probably are not a true believer. When you have the Spirit of God inside of you, after you are born again, you will have outward evidence of this, which is also called fruit.
No longer a Zombie
We are saved by faith, not religion or good deeds. The important thing is that you BELIEVE that Jesus is who He claimed to be, the Son of God, who came to save sinners. A sinner’s heart must be changed before his life will reflect that change.
You can’t be ‘awake and ready’ for Jesus until you know Him. Before you know Jesus, you are DEAD. After you are born again, your spirit is made ALIVE by God’s spirit.
Fellow blogger Derek Melanson wrote an excellent post about what it means to be born again, saved, a Christian and living in a ready state of expectance for Jesus to return and live eternally with Him.
Today is the day of salvation.
Admit that you need Jesus to forgive your sins. Believe in His life, death, and resurrection. Confess Him as your Lord and Savior. Discover God through studying the Bible.
If you do this, you will be awake when our Savior returns. But beware, there are many false teachers waiting to lead you astray into believing lies about God. You must read the Bible for yourself.
Blue Skies and Green Pastures 
[…] Don’t limit your reading to the Bible, however. There is so much more you can learn! Ancient history, archaeology, doctrine, eschatology, church history, current events in Israel and geography are just some of the subjects that will enhance your knowledge about God. You can find all kinds of information for free on the internet, but be sure the source is based on a Christian worldview that believes the Bible is the inspired and infallible word of God. Beware false teachers. […]