Bedtime
I have a sweet memory of Daddy kneeling and praying before bedtime when I was very young.
Daddy and me
I have sweet memories of bedtime when our children were little, too. Rocking, reading, singing—what precious times those were.
Another of the beautiful illustrations by Elizabeth Shippen Green Elliott in The Little Book of the Past by Josephine Preston Peabody is this one entitled Candle-Light.
Candle-Light by Elizabeth Shippen Green Elliott,
courtesy Library of Congress.
Sleep is one of God’s kind gifts to us. Pleasant and memorable bedtimes are kind gifts we give to our children.
God cares about our sleep and also about how we treat others when they sleep. In the Law of Moses, He gave many commands about practical ways the Israelites were to love their neighbor as themselves. The following command concerns caring about others sleeping in comfort.
If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge,
you are to return it to him before the sun sets,Â
for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body.
What else shall he sleep in?
And it shall come about that when he cries out to Me,
I will hear him, for I am gracious.
Exodus 22:26-27
This is how that command was repeated in Deuteronomy:
If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge.
When the sun goes down you shall surely return the pledge to him,
that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you;
and it will be righteousness for you before the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 24:12-13
Our children trust us to take care of them while they sleep. We can trust our Father to take care of us then, too.
In peace I will both lie down and sleep,
For You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8
Jesus trusted His Father so completely that He was able to sleep even during a violent storm at sea.
And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea,
so that the boat was being covered with the waves;
but Jesus Himself was asleep.
Matthew 8:24
Giving ourselves permission to take adequate time for sleep is an act of faith.
It is vain for you to rise up early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.
Psalm 127:2
Long after your long days of homeschooling are completed, your teaching will continue to bless your children, even when they sleep.
My son, observe the commandment of your father
And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;
Bind them continually on your heart;
Tie them around your neck.
When you walk about, they will guide you;
When you sleep, they will watch over you;
And when you awake, they will talk to you.
Proverbs 6:20-22