...and new growth.

Here's a gem from living out the turning of the new leaf. What do you lose sleep over? Not what do you worry about, but what are you willing to lose sleep over? A good TV show? If you are a runner, I know a good early morning run will get you up and out of bed, though not always with a bound and enthusiasm. That's because the joy comes after. Good grades? Work? In short, what you are willing to lose sleep over displays what you love, what you treasure, because sleep is pleasurable, and a pleasure some of us are willing to forgo in the hopes of aquiring some other thing we value as important. Being a father of 4 (possibly 5 kids now) I have to structure my time well. Of course, I structure it based on what I value. I usually have to do all my running before anyone is awake so as not to take time away from my family duties. Even that shows some of my commitments. Today however, as I act on my rearranged priorities, I got up and spent an hour in the Word and an hour in reading counseling material, theological material, and prayer. Why? Because the Word alone and time spent with it's Author alone can make me wise, and, believing what it says, I am placing myself in the path of it's influence, or under the means of grace, that I may grow wise, that I may be prepared for the life that I live within, that I may have wisdom to share with those God places in my path, whether formally as a counselor or informally as a fellow human. I want to be wise. The Word and time under it's counsel is the means. Running has crowded that out of my life, as has sleeping. I've been willing to carve out sleep time to run, but it has then pushed out study time. Today? Today I got up and under the Word, and I am blessed for it. It and my readings have oriented me properly to the world I live in, to myself, others, and the world. Running will have to wait, or exercise really as I ran last night and today am to do some calisthenics. A godly man once told me to be godly, I would have to lose some sleep. Well, here we go. The return on this side of the obedience is worth it, just like the run when you're in bed and tempted to forgo it for the comfort of the sheets and blanket. Obedience brings joy afterward. And blessing.