When I come home, tired after a long day or a long trip, all I want to do is to stay up that evening, just long enough, so that I can appear to have enough energy left to care. That may sound strange but it is true. Sure, my entire being wants to crash into my bed and enjoy the oblivion of “Winkin' , Blinkin' and Nod”. But my soul longs to prove to my beloved that I have enough energy at the end of the day to be there for her.
The inevitable will happen, if I don't do anything to keep consciousness, I will fall asleep. My problem when I am really tired is that I don't know what I really need. So, I will get up from my “nodding out” state and wander to the kitchen (choosing any other room will cause a wandering- zombie-like-state that irritates the fire out of everyone else trying to get to sleep). The kitchen is kind of a neutral ground, and there I have acceptable choices although it boils down to two … Eat or drink? Both seem to have the same immediate affect … a temporary recharge in the strength department (but trust me, it is very temporary).
This will open another can of worms because of the potential for “goodies” to be hanging about that have been either newly purchased or skillfully prepared that day. If I could keep my focus on the purpose of the visit I would be okay. Usually though, I will be thinking “drink of water”. But soon, due to my tired and unwired state, I will find myself over compensating in the eating department instead. Which of course will drain my strength and deplete my sleep also (oh, my tummy hurts). Trying to stay up and not fade into the night is so frustrating at the end of my strength...so EAT?
It is so typically human that when I am hungry I eat too much or when I am thirsty I drink too much. If I have the means, I will fill my closets with a relentless reserve of “what will I eat, what will I drink, and what shall I put on?” But put me at the end of my strength and life is simplified … I must go on. Let me live.
True strength for life is found in a lifestyle that daily recognizes God's provision. He has and is all that I need for life and living. True abundant life is not found in hording God's goodness for ourselves (can't happen anyhow) but in openly sharing His goodness with others. Psalm 92:1,2 – “It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High; To show forth Thy loving kindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness every night,” .
Here is the kicker … so many of us who are connected to the Cross of Christ will be content to live in the discontentment of having no outlet to see God work in our lives. We will eat, drink, and be merry in the land of oblivious bloat, so overstuffed with trivia and cliché that we can't see how awkward and how obnoxious we are in a world dying to know God's love. (Right now, some of us, because of our insatiable desire for self gratification, are fading, nodding, and bowing out in the spell of “I already knew that!”).
The last words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John were: “I thirst” … Wow!! Meditate on that one. Knowing the character of our Saviour … His thirst was for me, His thirst was for you. Greater love hath no man than this…that a man lay down His life for His friends (and He was laying it down so even His enemies … all of us … could be His friends).
Don't just lay down and go to sleep in the midst of the needs of others … drink in His awesome love and let it spill all over those around you.
Live openly for Jesus ...He lives openly in and for you!
Now I can go back to bed.
HLFA,
Jeff