“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.”
– 1 Timothy 4:13
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed – Mark 1:35 NIV
Quiet time and Early rising
Every believer ought to have the habit of rising early and going to a ‘place’ comfortable to read their Bible, pray and think/meditate on the things commanded in the Bible (Phil 4:8-9).
Early rising has a quietness that puts you on reset after waking up. It is not a command in the Bible, but it is a profitable habit to develop. I remember in the 80s when I became born again, we always sang of early rising to praise the Lord.
In the Bible we also find God’s servants rising early in the morning; since the epistles teach us to follow the examples of godly men, it is truly a fine thing to consider examples of such men Let us consider their examples:
Abraham
Gen 19:27 & 28 –
And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.
Jacob
Gen. 28:18 & 19 –
And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
Moses
Exodus 8:20 –
And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.
Mary
Luke 24:22 –
Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;
The apostles
Acts 5:21 –
And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.
Jesus
Mark 1:35 –
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed
Mat 14:22 & 23 –
And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
You need to practice early rising and quiet time this year. If you have left this habit, please GO BACK to it. God is not standing in the way of your pursuit and success; He takes pleasure in your success, joy, and progress in life (Ps 35:27), but if you pursue success and lose yourself, you will cause more harm than good.
I also want you to be ambitious for success but not at the detriment of your soul or loved ones. Please give attention to these things.
God bless your heart.
