ASLEEP ON THE JOB

Matthew 28:12-13 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.’

I find Matthew’s account of the resurrection rather fascinating, especially when we zoom our lens unto the soldiers who returned to the chiefs priests with their story. Upon hearing this, they were bribed and armed with an alternative story: “tell the people that his disciples came and stole his body while we were asleep.”

Perhaps, they were still dazed from the events they had witnessed, but I am unsure if they considered the oddity of that story. Think about this: ‘soldiers had been charged to seal and guard the tomb due to concerns that the body of Jesus would be stolen. Yet, those same soldiers return saying ‘the body was stolen while they were asleep’.

In other words, their story begins with the premise “while we are at post not doing what we had been charged to do”. It was as though they had not considered the implications of their statements and why would they, when those in authority seemed not to care.

Sadly, many of us are in such shoes. We are at post, but asleep. The tasks, roles and assignments allocated to us have all been left unattended. It is only when troubles arise from our inattention that we begin scrambling around for solutions. If you are a soldier, ensure you are guarding, if a teacher, that you are teaching. Simply, in whatever place you have been put, make sure you are ‘occupying’. That is, in godliness, being productive with results to show for it. Don’t be found sleeping on the job

#sly