Awake O Sleeper

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Isaiah 26:19

I don’t know about you, but sometimes it’s hard to motivate myself to get up early and spend time with God. I know what you are thinking, “You are a veteran missionary, how is it that you struggle with that?” Our enemy loves to distract us! He loves to keep us from a faithful consistent relationship with God. And to be honest, ministry is one of the excuses he uses in my life to distract me.

I recently made the commitment to give God the first hour of my day. No matter when I wake up, I committed to giving God the first hour. I made that commitment a week ago Friday. Saturday was fine, I had no commitments, so it was easy to comply. But, Sunday morning came and I struggled keeping my commitment. It was only the second day, and I was tempted to not keep my commitment. Why? Because I had to preach that morning, and I was not ready. “Surely if I don’t take all the time I have, I won’t be ready” was the lie I was telling myself. Ministry was distracting me. As the Lord reminded me of my commitment, I took the first hour and spent it in reading his word and prayer. Then, took the next 2 hours before church to finish by message preparation. I found that I still had enough time!

What excuses keep you from cultivating your relationship with God, and making him the first priority in your life? When you make time with God a priority, He will bless that time and, as Isaiah says, “He will shine on you.” You will see Him in new ways when you make your relationship the first priority.

Awake, O sleeper! Make God your first priority! This is my prayer for you today.