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Question 1

Paul says, “it is now high time to wake from sleep,” and Origen calls this “the sleep of the soul” when we become lethargic about “the things of God at the proper time”; what concrete forms of spiritual lethargy did the lesson imply (not just “feeling tired”), and what would “waking up” look like in a normal week?

Another way to ask: Besides just feeling tired, what kinds of “spiritual sleep” did the lesson point out—times we get lazy about God? What would “waking up” look like in your normal week?

Direct Answer The lesson treats spiritual “sleep” as a practical neglect of doing “the things of God at the proper time,” often tied to drifting into “works of darkness” and over-providing for fleshly desires. “Waking up” would look like deliberately shaking off spiritual drowsiness, living as “in the day,” and actively putting on Christ and the “armor of light” in ordinary choices.

Support from Transcript:

Origen: the soul is “asleep” when it “does not do the things of God at the proper time, but is lethargic instead.”
Paul’s remedy is active: “cast off the works of darkness” and “put on the armor of light.”
The “works of darkness” are concrete behaviors: “rioting and drunkenness… immorality and wantonness… strife and envying.”
The lesson connects sleep/night with drunkenness: “Those who sleep sleep in the night, and those who are drunk are drunk in the night.”
“Make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its desires” includes excess: going “beyond the things necessary.”

Discussion Follow-ups What weekly rhythms (entertainment, food/alcohol, social life, spending) most pull you toward “night” habits, and what specific daytime practices would replace them?

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