Be ready in the morning, and then come up
Be ready in the morning, and then come up
Be ready in the morning, and then come up. . . . Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain. No one is to come with you. (Exodus 34:2–3)
The morning is a critically important time of day. You must never face the day until you have faced God, nor look into the face of others until you have looked into His. You cannot expect to be victorious, if you begin your day in your own strength alone. Begin the work of every day after having been influenced by a few reflective, quiet moments between your heart and God.
Do not meet with others, even the members of your own family, until you have first met with the great Guest and honored Companion of your life—Jesus Christ.
Meet with Him alone and regularly, having His Book of counsel open before you. Then face the ordinary, and the unique, responsibilities of each day with the renewed influence and control of His character over all your actions.
Begin the day with God!
He is your Sun and Day!
His is the radiance of your dawn;
To Him address your day.
Sing a new song at morn!
Join the glad woods and hills;
Join the fresh winds and seas and plains,
Join the bright flowers and rills.
Sing your first song to God!
Not to your fellow men;
Not to the creatures of His hand,
But to the glorious One.
Take your first walk with God!
Let Him go forth with thee;
By stream, or sea, or mountain path,
Seek still His company.
Your first transaction be
With God Himself above;
So will your business prosper well,
All the day be love.
Those who have accomplished the most for God in this world are those who have been found on their knees early in the morning. For example, Matthew Henry would spend from four to eight o’clock each morning in his study. Then, after breakfast and a time of family prayer, he would return to his study until noon. After lunch, he would write till four p.m. and then spend the remainder of the day visiting friends.
Philip Doddridge referred to his Family Expositor as an example of the difference of rising at five o’clock, as opposed to seven. He realized that increasing his workday by twenty-five percent was the equivalent of adding ten work years to his life over a period of forty years.
Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible was penned primarily in the early morning hours. Barnes’ Notes, a popular and useful commentary by Albert Barnes, was also the fruit of the early morning. And Charles Simeon’s Sketches were mostly written between four and eight a.m.
Culled from streams in the desert.
