Proverbs 20:13 Do not love sleep, or you will become poor; open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.
Elizabeth Gilbert said, “Argue for your limitations and you get to keep them.”
I’m in my mid-sixties and am aware of what I and my generation let happen on our watch. As we were asleep at the wheel big pharmaceutical, agriculture, energy and business stealthily inserted themselves into positions of power, influence and control. These power brokers used lobbyists and methods of campaign contributions to influence legislation in their favor.
We have been lied to, manipulated, and out-maneuvered through planned cunning and we need God’s help to see through it all. Psalm 12:1 Help, LORD, for no faithful one remains; the loyal have disappeared from the human race. 2 They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and deceptive hearts.
The only way I can turn things around is to start with my own life and my own backyard. I can stop arguing for all the limitations I thought were inevitable and out of my influence. I can eat and grow real whole foods without toxic chemicals, fillers, and empty carbs. I can exercise, workout and get busy with living, rather than existing on pharmaceuticals. I can trust in the Lord, rather than the world’s best offers. Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
Most importantly, I can learn to be grateful and content with what I have, rather than being in debt for the countless range of things being dangled just outside of financial reach every moment of the day. My life can be strong in who Christ made me to be, rather than needing worldly permission to be who I am. Phil. 4:11 I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances.
We can all stop sleeping at the wheel and through God’s grace and abilities change the world by stepping out in faith, one person at a time. Phil. 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. You and God are a majority. God and I are a majority. All it takes is faith in God.
We read the who’s who of men and women of faith who changed the course of history and mankind in the written record listed in chapter eleven in the book of Hebrews. These people were men of like passions as we are. They had their fears and limitations, but when they aligned themselves with God’s plan and direction they changed the world they lived in.
The proverb says, “Not to love sleep or we will become poor.” Yes, if we stay asleep at the wheel we will become poorer concerning our mental and physical health. We will become poor stewards of our lands and properties. If we do not take back our lives from the mundane, we will miss out of the richness of a Christ-filled life. Our strength will be sapped because our heart’s focus will wane toward mediocrity, rather than the fullness of a God-filled life.
Wake up! With God, we can change the outcome, no matter how dire things may seem. It is never too late to start changing events in our lives when we work with the Lord. God can do for us in one day what would take us a lifetime to do without Him. 2 Pet. 3:8 Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
By God’s grace and favor I will not argue for any limitations. Rather, by faith in Christ, I will change my world by believing what God says I can be, do, and have. No more sleeping at the wheel while I go down the road God has laid out for me. In Jesus name!
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YEESSSS!! AMEN! Well said Norm.
Amen! Excellent word! Thank you Norm!