“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14
It’s Monday morning. The alarm clock has just gone off and it’s time to start a new day, a new week. Do you grab your phone to see what new messages or email you have? Do you read the newspaper or watch the morning shows to see what happened in the world while you were sleeping? Or, if you’re like me, you shuffle to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. There are many funny sayings about coffee and our dependence on it to wake us up in the morning, pumping life back into our veins. Sayings like “All you need is Jesus and a whole lot of coffee,” or “Don’t talk to me before I’ve had my first cup of coffee.”
Speaking of messages, I am amused and encouraged in the morning by the sayings on my coffee cups. The funniest one I have is from my friend next door. It says, “Yes – I am still in my pajamas. What did I accomplish today? The kids are alive. Say thank you. Now say I’m pretty.” Then, there’s the one I’ve had since college with Winnie the Pooh on it that says, “I’m a bear of very little brain and long words bother me.” Most of my favorite coffee mugs are gifts that friends or sisters have given me. Another cup reminds me, “Lord, teach me to bloom where I’m planted.” That mug has been with me through 4 moves including 3 states and 3 different countries. A different friend has given me a mug that says “Strength – be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9.” My sister just gave me a great shaped pink mug that says, “You are fabulous.”
As you can tell, I’m rather attached to my coffee cups. They not only add joy to my morning as I remember the special people who gave them to me, they also encourage and humor me by the messages written on each one, not to mention the steaming dark liquid they hold that provides me the caffeine I need to start my day.
What are we pouring into our minds and souls every morning? What if instead of grabbing our phones or turning the television on first thing when we wake up, we reached for our Bibles instead (okay, after we’ve gotten our coffee)? Don’t settle for just a message on a coffee cup to get you through the day. God’s Word is chocked full of His messages of hope, love, joy, forgiveness and abundant life just for us! Just like we plant our feet on the floor when we get out of bed, we plant our soul on solid ground when we fill it with God’s Word every morning before we fill our minds with the news and worries of the day.
Let God’s Word not only fill you with His spirit of life and peace, also let it remind you of the One who gave it to you. The Bible is God’s message of His never ending love for you; His amazing love that caused Him to send His one and only Son into the world to pay for our sins and redeem our lives from utter hopelessness. All through God’s Word there is Jesus and the story of God’s rescue plan for you and me. When you open your Bible each morning, you open your day up to Jesus and His love. He is waiting for you in the middle of every page, just like that coffee cup is waiting for you each morning. Jesus will pump true life into your veins and wake you up to the amazing plans He has for you each day. What is His message for you today? Open His Word and find out!
His servant and yours,
Paula