What’s In Bed With You?

When I was in the Marines, my first permanent duty station was in the Philippines. My company guarded the naval magazine (where bombs, torpedo’s etc. were stored) which covered a vast expanse of mountainous jungle. We would go into the “mag” as we called it, for a week and would come out for a week. It was a continual rotation for the duration of this assignment. Believe it or not, we would get bored. A bored Marine is not a good thing. There were lizards longer than me, snakes that could eat a man, bats with wingspans over six feet (I am not kidding), wild boars, and monkeys.

One of my fondest memories (it’s bad I know) was when we would find a dead monkey; okay, no hate mail, they were already dead. We never killed any monkeys to my knowledge. Anyway, we would take the dead monkey back to the guard house and put it in the bunk of a sleeping Marine(s). You can only imagine the result. I must confess it was hilarious. Obviously no one ever carried out their death threat for these acts as I am still here.

When you lay down in bed at night, what are you taking to bed with you?

If you fill your head with television programs, pornography, drugs, alcohol, bitterness, envy, hate, or any other un-godly thing, you have set the course for that thing to fester in your mind while you sleep. The last thing you do, or think about before going to bed, will become engrained in your mind.

I believe many bad dreams are the result of the final thoughts before sleep. I also believe this can add a great deal of stress, and directly affect your tomorrow. It will no doubt relate to your walk with Christ. The Devil loves to play in and with the mind. 

² Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired laborer waiting to be paid,
³ so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me. ⁴ When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’ The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn. -Job 7:2-4 

For the last several years, I have made it my habit to pray while lying in bed. Sure I pray at other times, but I pray whenever I am awake and lying in bed. You would be amazed at how well I tend to sleep.

 ⁶ On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
⁷ Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. ⁸ I cling to you; -Psalm 63:6-8