I feel very convicted when I read Psalm 127... verse two states, "It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep." I have a confession...I don't stay up late out of ambition, but because I am anxious and don't like laying in bed thinking of all the major decisions we have to make right now. BTW.. I love the when God uses the word beloved... I can't believe that he considers me (a nobody) one of his beloved. I love this quote from one of John Piper's sermons. He was preaching on Psalm 127 "
"God does not lay down specific rules for how early we rise for work and how late we knock off at night. But he does lay down this principle for his beloved: Don't rise early and go late to rest out of anxiety, out of fear and fretfulness. If the joy of fruitful labor lures you to work 12 hours a day, so be it. But take heed lest you are really deceiving yourself, and in fact are being driven by anxiety, or by her twin sister, selfish-ambition. Christians will work hard, but they will work more for the joy of all the good their work can bring to others than they will out of fear at what men will think if they fail. So,
Be diligent as God may lead
And eat the bread you earn,
But fret not over what you need
And let not worry burn."
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