"And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD:" (Genesis 19:27)
Dr. Mike Murdock wrote several years ago that the successes and failures of our lives are greatly influenced and determined by our daily habits and routines. For example, when I first wake up in the morning, I don't have to think about certain actions I take right away. I have done them for so long that they are a natural part of the rhythm of my life. There are the natural, physical things, of course, but the ones he was addressing are the mental, spiritual, emotional things. For example, waking up and immediately thanking God for the rest you were able to get during the night and for the opportunity for another day. If you're like me, once your coffee is ready then sitting down to spend some time in gratitude for all the blessings He has bestowed upon you followed by some time in His Word. This sets the tone for my day. No matter how busy I am going to be, what tasks I must accomplish, I have to have my heart right and my spiritual thermostat set properly to meet the day. I don't have to think about these things anymore - they have become as much a part of my life as breathing. Habits.
In our passage today that's what we are reading about Abraham. This was no chance occurrence or one=time thing he does here. The inflection given here is that this is a normal thing for Abraham to do when he arises in the morning. He has set aside a certain place where he goes and presents himself to the LORD each morning. It is here he hears from God. Here he receives his daily briefing, so to speak. Here he sets his heart right before the LORD prior to going about his daily business.
I encourage you to do the same. If your schedule is as crazy unpredictable as mine sometimes gets, you are still up early in the morning sometimes. My time of presenting myself before the LORD can be as late as 9 or 10 a.m., but that is my time with God. Here in my private space in my home I present myself to the LORD daily. I have that privilege - I have no children to prepare for school, no spouse to interfere, no knocks on my door or clients to meet. I am blessed and I know it. Still, with all of these things (and more) in your life, I strongly encourage you to set aside time each day regularly before things get too out of hand to meet with and present yourself to God. And don't just throw a list of stuff at Him, turn, and run off. Spend even a few moments to hear from Him. Remember, it is a relationship you are in with Him. That means two-way communication. Let Him speak to you.
God loves you deeply - obviously. He cares about what concerns you. If you learn to cultivate this habit of daily meeting with Him you will learn to say with the hymnist of years ago, "I don't know about tomorrow, I just live from day to day...I don't know about the future...but I know Who holds my hand." Beautiful.
Be blessed.
Comments