All-nighters. That is the term given to the nocturnal binge cram-sessions that every educated person is due to experience once in their life. I experienced my fair share of all-night study sessions during my college career. The copious amounts of caffeine in sugar-saturated liquid form. The bright lights. The “breaks” where I fought off the urge to plunge headlong into slumber. I would talk to myself, yell, do whatever it took to keep my bloodshot eyes open.
I’m glad to have left all-nighters behind. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to slough off all stresses of life. As life progresses, opportunities for anxiety and pressure increase. With that pressure, the temptation to go into survival-mode is immense. Like a ship that’s sinking fast, I survey the cargo of my life to see what I can jettison. Sadly, one of the easiest things for me to forsake is focused time reading and meditating on the Word. It is one of those things in my life that rarely feels urgent and often is undervalued. But that isn’t how it should be.