Asleep or Dead?

Recently I was talking with a relative and the subject came up about horses. I had seen a baby horse laying on the ground and wondered if it was dead. The horse was just lying there on the ground not moving and another horse, presumably the mother, standing next to it.

The mother horse will stand next to the newborn horse and nudge it every once in a while until the baby moves around a bit. This is a signal to the mother that the baby is not dead but mearly asleep.

It's ok for the newborn to sleep and get it's rest but the mother wants to make sure that the baby is not dead.

What a beautiful picture of the newborn child of God. The mother is the church and the father is God. Sometimes the church needs to check on the newborn children and make sure they are not dead, but mearly sleeping or resting.

I am reminded of a story of some men trying to make there way to safety through some very cold and treacherous mountains. The leader of the men knew that if he let the other men sleep too long, or if they all went to sleep they would never wake again. Knowing this the leader allowed the men to sleep for a few minutes, woke them up and told them they had slept for half and hour and made them move on. This saved the mens lives and encouraged them to continue on the journey to safety.

Lord in my life let me rest for a while when my weary soul needs rest but don't let me fall asleep spiritually never to wake again. Nudge me every once in a while, make me uncomfortable that my soul may rest but no fall asleep spiritually never to awake.