Stay Awake

Do not love sleep or you will grow poor;

      stay awake and you will have food to              spare.

                                    (Prov 20:13 NIV)

I slept for about ten hours last night. But, that does not mean I slept in. I was still at my desk before 7 a.m.. I am one of those people who tend to live to work rather than work to live so it is easy to get up; get a cup of coffee and begin the work day. Pull me away from work and I end up feeling very lost. That is probably not the best thing; but, that is who I am. 

I grew up in a family; in a community, with a very strong work ethic. No one ever questioned if one would put their everything into the work they had to do or just do enough to ensure they kept getting a paycheck and not get fired. If there was work before you; you just did it. You went to sleep early enough so that you could get up and get done what needed to get done. My parents often reminded us when my sisters and I were young that "the early bird catches the worm."

When my granddaughter was still in school, she liked to sleep in. Getting up at 9 a.m. on days off was early for her. She missed out on a lot of things that she may have enjoyed by sleeping her days away. She is now almost twenty years of age. She works an early morning shift and has to be up no later than 4:45. She has learned that if she wants to eat and do what she likes; work comes first. It pleases me that she is able to get moving so early and enjoy the work that she does. 

Jesus too had a habit of waking very early. Scripture tells us of times that he would rise early and go off to pray. The quiet early morning hours bring opportunity to be refreshed by God's word and by His presence. Wake up and spend intentional time with the Lord so that you may be strengthened to go about the day doing His will.

“Wake up, sleeper,

     rise from the dead,
     and Christ will shine on you.” 

                                           (Eph 5:14)

God's Peace - Pr. J