RTW September 29
Why Early?
Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them.
Luke 4:42
My Takeaways
Something Old
Maybe you’ve wrestled or are wrestling with the same questions.
After more than a decade of awakening to my internal alarm, I am excited to announce I know the answer these questions. Can I share them with you?
- Why should get up early to spend time with the LORD?
Jesus got up early. On more than one occasion scripture references Jesus getting up early to spend time in prayer. In the instance of our key verse, Jesus had faced a very grueling schedule. He had gone one-on-one with Satan in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-30), driven an evil spirit out a man (Luke 4:31-37), and healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law as well as many others (Luke 4:38-39). Yet when the new day dawned He arose to meet with His Father. - What difference can a few hours, and a little daylight make?
Our Heavenly Father knows what we will face each day. Meeting with Him before the rush fills our heart with His love and peace. Our spirit realigns with the Holy Spirit, so we will respond in a Christ-like manner when the day’s events unfold. God knew Jesus would be headed for the synagogue to preach (Luke 4:44). Time alone would prepare His heart and mind for ministry. - Can’t God hear me later?
Yes, God hears us anytime we pray, day or night. But there is something intimate and deeply divine about sharing the genesis of our day with Jesus. It’s a date-time we get to meet with the Lover of our soul with no distractions nor interruptions. The date at daybreak just opens the dialogue with God…the conversation continues all day.
Something New
John is arrested, and Jesus goes out to preach. I wonder why Jesus never went to see John in prison.
Something to Do
Keep meeting with Jesus early in the morning.
I’m an early morning person – it started out for practical reasons: I worked far from home and wanted to get my quiet time in as well as exercise before heading out to meet the day. It has since become something I cherish. My alarm goes off at 3:30am. The external peace that I find during that time is so beautiful. I still struggle with distractions even at that time (both internal and external) but the Lord is faithful and working through that in me. I start every morning with RTW (I can’t believe I made it this far – every year I start and every year I quit well before the 6 month mark! woohoo!)
“Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?” Oh wow, having come from a signs and wonders-based church, this hit me hard. Yes, the answer today is YES! But it wasn’t always. I measured Jesus’s love for me based on what He did. If Jesus never did another thing for me – would I still believe in Him? The more I read His Word and discover the attributes of each member of the Godhead, the stronger my YES becomes.
Faith that seeks only the miraculous is not true faith.
Faith that seeks only what God can do for me is not true faith.
To do: Seek the Miracle-Maker
To do: I want to spend more of my early morning time in intentional prayer – I struggle with this.
I start my day meeting with God every day and have since I committed to Him in January 2014. If I have something to do early, I start earlier and sometimes have to come back to some of the things I do daily.