“Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it…It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.” – Psalm 127:1-2
Sometimes we miss sleep because we are stupid. We waste away time on frivolous things that deplete our energy and accomplish little. However, sometimes we miss sleep because we think we are too important to sleep.
You believe that you can survive on 5 hours a night because you must. If you slept the same amount of time the “lazy people” sleep, the world might be deprived of all that you have to offer. Some egotists go as far as claiming that sleep is somehow sinful. Though the Scriptures are clear that an overabundance of sleep is wrong and will lead to poverty (Prov. 6:9-11), the Bible never condemns a healthy cycle of daily rest. On the contrary, the Bible actually teaches that sleep is a blessed gift. According to Psalm 127, it is the Lord that is working through you. It’s pointless to avoid rest to accomplish more, because God gives sleep to those He loves.
The only thing you are accomplishing by limiting your sleep is bringing sorrow into your life. Greg McKeon, in his wonderful book Essentialism, makes a very strong argument for getting 8 hours of sleep every night in the chapter… SLEEP: Protect the Asset. He contends that a refusal to sleep will affect your performance so negatively that any strides made during your sleepless nights will be negated by your inability to perform at peak levels. In short, if you cheat sleep, life will cheat you.
Do you get enough sleep? Are you performing at peak levels?
