6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,7casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.9Resist him, steadfast in the faith...
Alertness is a characteristic that serves us well as we seek to follow Christ. I think it's interesting that verse 8 mentions sobriety and vigilance just after the writer says to cast our cares upon the Lord. The burdens of life, those things we carry and not allow the Lord to bear, can weigh us down to the extent that it's hard to concentrate on the love of God and His provisions. But, when we release those heavy burdens, when we refuse to be distracted by worry and anxiety, we can experience peace and strength from the Lord. As we use His resources, we can remain alert when the enemy would want get us off course.
In Romans chapter 13, we are challenged as believers to be alert:
(11)...it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.12The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.13Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
Yahoo! is reporting on a bank employee who reportedly took a very expensive on-the-job nap when he laid his head down on his keyboard. When the employee woke a short time later, he discovered that he'd accidentally transferred hundreds of millions of euros by holding down the "2" key, according to a report from the French website AFB.
What was supposed to be a 62.40 euro transfer ($82.80) turned into a 222,222,222.22 euro transfer ($295 million).
The mistake, which occurred in April 2012, was reversed, but the sleepy employee's boss initially let the transfer go through, and the supervisor was reportedly fired for not catching the mistake right away. The case went before a German court, which ruled that the supervisor was wrongly fired and ordered the bank to give her her job back because the mistake was not malicious in nature, according to the London Evening Standard.
It's unclear what became of the sleepy employee.
We all make mistakes - some are greater than others, and some can be corrected. I think when we make an error, it can be helpful to us to do a little self-analysis to see if we can take the necessary steps so it does not happen again.
In this case, the data entry person did something simple which led to the huge error - he fell asleep. He had an important responsibility and for whatever reason, he didn't remain alert.
Spiritually speaking, alertness is a great virtue for us as believers. The Bible is full of warnings to stay vigilant, not distracted or weighed down with cares, cognizant on what is taking place around us so we can respond Biblically and on what is going on inside of us so we can shore up areas of potential weakness. The enemy would want us to be focused on other things than the realm of the spiritual, and the Lord wants to sharpen our focus so that we concentrate on and depend on Him.
We maintain spiritual alertness through: determination - making a commitment to try to be our best. Also, through physical rest - we can wear ourselves out if we're not careful. And, through the basic elements of Bible meditation and prayer, we combat spiritual drowsiness so that our minds are sharp and stayed on Christ.
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