Beware of the Enchanted Ground

"Therefore let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch and be sober."   1Thessalonians 5:6

I grew up in a home without television, and as a result, I developed a great love of reading. One of my favorite books was John Bunyan's,  The Pilgrim's Progress.  It is an allegory about the Christian walk from earth to Heaven.    On his way to the Celestial City, Christian is joined by another pilgrim named Hopeful. They entered a country called the  Enchanted Ground.  

Bunyan wrote, "I then saw in my dream that they went on till they came into a certain country, whose air naturally tended to make one drowsy, if he came a stranger into it. And here Hopeful began to be very dull and heavy of sleep; wherefore he said unto Christian, I do now begin to grow so drowsy that I can scarcely hold up mine eyes. let us lie down here and take a nap."

But, Christian is afraid that if they sleep, they might never awake. He reminds Hopeful that one of the Shepherds warned them to beware of the Enchanted Ground. It was too dangerous to sleep in this place; they must press on.

Spiritual sleep causes desensitization; we lose the ability to feel.

Spiritually asleep Christians go to church in body, but their heart is not in the prayer, singing, or worship. They are not moved by anything they hear. They feel no burden for the lost. When was the last time you heard mothers crying out for their unsaved children?

Charles Spurgeon told of preaching to a congregation on Sunday afternoon. They had eaten too much dinner and came to the church very sleepy. He tried to arouse them. Spurgeon said, "Finally I shouted with all my might, fire, fire, fire! Some of the congregation rose from their seats, asking where the fire was. I told them it was in hell waiting for such sleepy sinners as they were."

Why are so many in the American church spiritually asleep? I don't know about you, but when tornado warnings are issued, lightning is flashing, and thunder is booming, I don't sleep!

People have trouble sleeping when there is no money for the bills, food is scarce, or no health insurance for their families. In  The Pilgrim's Progress,  you never read that Christian slept when lions were in the way or fighting Apollyon, but when he came to the  Pleasant Arbor , he went to sleep.

The road has been far too easy for Christians in America. We have gone through things we never dreamed of for nearly two years, but are we fully awake? Will it take churches being shut down for good, pastors arrested, or even Christians being persecuted for us to awaken out of our sleep?

Beware of the Enchanted Ground! Christian heeded that warning because he found Simple, Sloth, and Presumption asleep earlier in the story, not far from the cross. Christian warns them of the danger from their adversary, the devil. Simple responded, "I see no danger." He represents the person who sees no need for the armor of God or to arm himself with prayer and knowledge of the Word of God.

Sloth responded, "Yet a little more sleep." He represents the person who believes he can put everything off until another day. Tomorrow he will get serious about prayer, witnessing, studying, and applying the Word of God. He also represents the person who thinks he has plenty of time to get right with God.  "By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through."   Ecclesiastes 10:18

Presumption responded, "Every vat must stand upon his own bottom," which is to say, "I don't need any help from you!" He represents those who refuse to heed godly counsel. Presumption also represents those counting on works, rituals, or religion to get them to Heaven. He proves that the natural man cannot understand the danger he is in. He over-estimates his own abilities and under-estimates the bondage of his sin. There is no peace or safety apart from Jesus Christ.

Beware of the Enchanted Ground. Beware of complacency, carelessness, and lethargy; beware of fatigue!

I live in the country, and I love to walk. There is a spring in my step when I first start out, and my stride is brisk. The walk back is another story! As I near the end, my steps get slower and slower, and I am more than ready to sit down and rest. In Bunyan's allegory of the Christian's walk from earth to glory, the enemy places the Enchanted Ground near the end of the Pilgrims' race.  Why?  Because he knows that is where they will be the weariest and most likely to sleep.

Someone once said, "Satan does not stop nipping at the heels of the saints until they draw their last breath."

Charles Plumb was a US Navy pilot in Vietnam. After seventy-five missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent six years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and was eventually released. One day when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man came up to their table and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters off the aircraft carrier, Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!" "How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb. The man replied, "I packed your parachute! I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today!"

Charles Plumb could not get the man off his mind. He said, "I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not said anything to him because you see, I was a fighter pilot, and he was just a sailor. I thought of the hours the sailor had spent at a long table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know."

If you cannot see end-time Biblical prophecy unfolding, then you are hiding your head in the sand.

We are nearing the finish line. Don't expect life to get easier. Satan knows his time is short, and he has unleashed his fury. He is trying everything in his power to wear down the saints of God. Living in a world filled with sin is hard. Fighting the battle  against  sin can cause us to grow weary, and that's where we must beware of the Enchanted Ground.  

The story of the fighter pilot and the sailor leaves no doubt that victory in physical warfare depends upon every soldier doing their job to the best of their ability. What if the sailor had gotten careless or been sleeping on the job? Charles Plumb would have died in the jungles of Vietnam, and his name would be on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.

Every member of the spiritual army of Jesus Christ is valuable! Don't grow complacent, careless, or insensitive; someone is counting on  you!  You may be packing the spiritual parachute of someone who will never land safely on Heaven's shore unless  you  stay awake, watch and pray!

Davis Wilkerson said, "We may never see the impact of the work we do for Christ, but that does not mean the efforts are fruitless."

If we remain faithful and awake, continue to fight the good fight, and pray without ceasing, I believe we will see people in Heaven who will say, "If not for you, I would not be here."

" How sweet is rest after fatigue. How sweet will be Heaven when our journey is ended." ~  George Whitefield