Satisfied?

Proverbs 20:13 - Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread. 

I awoke this morning in Eagle River at 3:48 to the sounds of an overprotective raccoon and some whimpering baby 'coons. Some unknown, silent predator or prowler must have been getting a little too close to their nest.

Apart from that sound, all I could hear in the stillness of upper Wisconsin were my ears ringing (a touch of tinnitus going on there). Well, I couldn't get back to sleep. I flopped around awhile then noticed it growing lighter outside. The stars I was able to see out the window were fading fast. 

So at 5:15 I got up and made some coffee, took my Bible to a quiet corner of the living room and proceeded to read the Proverb above! How appropriate. I would call that a word from God!

With thankfulness in my heart I thought more about what I read. I pondered and meditated on just those few words and realized again how sometimes just the shortest verse can be filled, amazingly, by the knowledge He has shared with us.

We are called to arise and spend the first part of our day with God, seeking Him in prayer and in reading His Word....not loving sleep! It's like tithing in church. We give of the first ten percent of our earnings. We give off the top, like skimming the rich cream off the top of milk. We give the first, which is our best, to Him. 

We are in deep spiritual sleep if we do not know Christ, if we are not desiring Him.  And when we are in a spiritual sleep we are spiritually lazy. This produces hunger...that cannot be satisfied (with the things of the world. Jesus is called our Bread of life. In the Old Testament He came to Israel as they wandered the desert for forty years as manna from heaven. He is the Bread that sustains. Bread, like the Living Water He also is, that satisfies. 

There's a satisfaction in the world of unbelievers...but it does not compare to this type of satisfaction. With the daily bread, this manna from heaven, we can feel full of the Lord all day. World satisfaction is never really satisfied. Are you satisfied?

We are called to open our eyes. Seek God with all your heart. Seek Him for truth, peace, wisdom, knowledge...everlasting life. Seek and you will find if you do seek Him with all your heart. Will you be determined tomorrow to arise and open your eyes and be satisfied with the Bread of life?

Deuteronomy 4:29 - But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.