What’s in your mind when you first wake up in the morning, or perhaps I should say when the initial grogginess, so to speak, has departed from you. I suppose it would depend on the day of the week and the particular lifestyle that you are still relegated to, but in general, what are your first thoughts in the morning.
If the kids are up yet and getting ready for school, that business meeting that is oh so important, or perhaps it is just the regular routine, the daily grind, if you will, that really requires no in-depth thought anymore. I know that many of you understand already where this is heading, so then the question must arise, why not? Why is not praise and thanksgiving for the day ahead, no matter what it brings, the first conscience thoughts after your mind begins to awaken.
We tend not to do that, and not just first thing in the morning, but throughout the day, we seek His face as a reminder almost, as a “Oh yeah, thank you Lord.” “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Prov. 3:6) A good memory verse, one of the first for many, and sadly, one of the last to be employed as it should.
In the devotional that my wonderful wife read for us this morning was what I woke up with, after the night’s fog had cleared, I was thankful that our bed had not become our death bed that evening. Now, it would have been nice in a sense, for that would have meant that we would be waking up in heaven, but that is not really the point of this letter to you, it is to ask if you remember Him in even the smallest of matters, those we tend to take for granted these days, or at least many of us do. A shower or tub, with water at the turn of a handle, clean clothes, food readily available, a place to sleep. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33)
Most people tend to believe in the promise of this verse, but yet miss the most important part of it, His righteousness. How does one seek for the righteousness of God? Before we can know what to do, we must be shown what to do, and for the born-again believer, that means studying the Word of God, you must pick up the Book of Books and study it, searching through it daily for the pearls, for the wisdom and knowledge it offers to all who will but search diligently for them, and you must be able to see Christ in its pages.
Here is where capitalism and the commercialism that comes with it has become a two-edged sword, the more the items of the world that become available to us, the less we depend on the Lord, it is one of the reasons those with the Lord that day were amazed when He said that it was almost impossible for a rich man to enter into heaven. (Matt. 19:23) The abundance of the wealth of the world, the things of it were seen by many as the supreme blessings of the Lord, the more wealth one had, in many cases, the more the Lord was showering blessings upon them. That is why one of the reasons that His message was not readily accepted by those that had wealth, and why so many with just the simple needs of the day followed Him.
Look up and down the street that you live on, do you see wealth, or poverty, if wealth, how much of it is owned, and how much of it is owed to, in debt beyond comprehension. If poverty, why, because people are lazy, or because they have continuous excuses. Until we realize that whether or not we live in a house with running water or not, that that is where the Lord wants us for His own glory, we will never wake up praising Him, we will continue only to give Him the glory He deserves when the circumstances are what we would consider beneficial to us.
The prosperity religions are wrong, those who claim we should live in abject poverty for His glory are wrong, we should live each day to His glory no matter where He has placed us. If you did not wake up this morning thanking Him for the day, and then ask Him to lead you in it for His glory, no matter the circumstances that arrive, then as it is said, you woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.
