The Early Bird

With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O LORD! I will keep your statutes. I call to you; save me, that I may observe your testimonies. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words. My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise. Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O LORD, according to your justice give me life. They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose; they are far from your law. But you are near, O LORD, and all your commandments are true. Long have I known from your testimonies that you have founded them forever. (Psalm 119:145-152 ESV). There are many variations of the common proverb; ”The early bird gets the worm.” I like the one that goes “the early bird gets the last of the Lucky Charms.” A variation of that theme in proverbial statement goes, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” Common proverbs such as these are meant to encourage us to get up early in the morning to start our day. If you’re like me, you really don’t have any problems getting up early to do the things that you really enjoy. If I know that I need to be up at 5:00 AM to go deer hunting, I don’t even need to set an alarm! Yet, when I need to get up for other things that I don’t quite enjoy doing as well, then I need to have several alarms set. When the psalmist made his declaration about rising early to cry out to the Lord, it was a declaration of his commitment to be with the Lord, not merely get up early. Getting up early to meditate or pray is not the problem at all. It is a matter of focusing on our relationship with the Lord that really makes the difference in the ease of our early rising. It is often much easier to give God the time we have "left over" in the evenings after our daily tasks have been completed. But just think how much more meaningful it would be to God to know that you took special effort and care in the morning to give your time to Him. If nothing else we should give thanks to God each morning for the night of rest we have had and for blessing us with a new day in our lives. I have learned that giving time to God early in the morning always has its rewards as well. On the days when I have missed or skipped my morning quiet time, it has affected the way my day goes. Days just seem to flow so much more smoothly when they are started the right way. I realize that many people really struggle in the mornings. Today make a commitment to getting up to meet with the Lord. Don’t focus on getting up early. Focus on getting up in time to spend it with your close friend and Savior. It will amaze you how much easier your day will go as you start it with Him. Remember that the early bird gets the worm!