May 15 –Open Your Eyes

Proverbs 20:13

 Do not love sleep, or you will become poor; open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food. (NASB)

Sleep is very important. But too much of a good thing is also harmful. It is known to cause back pain, depression, obesity, headaches, diabetes, heart conditions, and increased risk of death. A lot of those medical conditions are also attributed to too little sleep. Our bodies need a balance.

Work demands that one be rested, but too much rest makes a person lazy, like the sluggard or slothful person in Proverbs 6:9. If people sleep the day away they can’t possibly work enough to put food on the table for their family unless they have a night job. The lazy person is doomed to be poor. Not that everyone has to be rich. No, but to take care of yourself and your family, and not depend on a handout from others is of great value in life. Then there is the other side of the coin also, the rich person who has eaten too much, as in Ecclesiastics 5:12, “The sleep of the working man is pleasant, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach of the rich man does not allow him to sleep.”

 Open your eyes and find a happy medium in life---not too poor or too rich. Just be satisfied with what is right for you and your family. 1 Timothy 6:7-9 tells us, “For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.”  Being content brings a lot of joy into my life since I don’t have to strive for something I don’t have…actually that I don’t even want. And when I get something, like a gift, then I am overjoyed and really enjoy it and the person who gave it to me. I think that being satisfied opened my eyes and that gave me further satisfaction with life, with the food I eat and with the spiritual food that I seek every day. Try it for yourself. Choose to be satisfied, to be content with your life.

Lord, I praise you for a rich feeling of satisfaction with my life, my food, and with knowing You. Please give me a deeper wisdom to know You more.

© 2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.