I don’t know where October has gone, but today I looked at my calendar and noticed that there is only one week left in this month. With the changing seasons, it’s been getting darker sooner and stays darker in the morning when I’m up getting ready. Sleep and getting up in the mornings has been a topic of discussion recently. With a trip out of town last weekend, our sleep was limited and with us moving into our new apartment this weekend I am having a week of the same. It seems that all day I wish I could take a rest, just a short “power nap” but when I get home from work it always turns out that there are just too many things to be done and a nap then seems like a waste of time. So I stay up late working away with packing, painting or what not and in the end the amount I actually can shut my eyes simply must suffice.
Bobby and I have been talking some about getting up in the mornings. My sister wrote an entry portraying well, the perspective that many people have on mornings. She talks about alarm clocks and the pain of dragging oneself out into the cold to get ready for the day. Our conversations have been around this idea that some people are “morning people” and some people are “night people” I like to think that there are also “anytime people” because I’m pretty sure I’m one of those. In our home I am most always the first one up. I don’t have an obnoxious alarm clock, I usually feel well rested and alert soon after getting out of bed. Bobby on the other hand sleeps longer than me most days and has a more difficult time moving out of REM and into his normal coherent state. This is most often due to the fact that he stays up too late writing blog entries at [1] Godsongmusic.
It’s funny to me because I remember in college finding the wake-up time torturous. I was always cold, grumpy and “not all there”. But now I kind of enjoy mornings, I open all the shades and listen to some Godsong while I eat my breakfast. I never thought I was a morning person. I certainly wasn’t born falling into one of those typical categories. I simply have adapted myself to getting a better getting up process. Yesterday I had an early doctor’s appointment for which Bobby was having a challenging time getting up for. But when he did, we talked about what things would make getting up easier. Maybe it’s not having such an obnoxious alarm clock, maybe a little sunlight would help or memorizing Psalm119:24. Sometimes I think of the things I’m doing that day…work, lunch with my friend, a book I’m planning to read, phone call I should make, Bible study at night. Thinking through the day’s upcoming events usually helps me know what I can look forward to and plan ahead for things I need to get done. Maybe people don’t like getting up because they dread their job or have a big test they aren’t prepared for or something else they aren’t looking forward too. But it’s easy to see that there are bigger problems there than just dealing with the morning time.
Last night at our high school Bible study Bobby read Lamentations 3:22-23 which addresses something very important that happens every morning:
“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.”
I have thought before on the reality that each day–even each breath we take–is an undeserved gift from God. But last night as Bobby taught on the fifth beatitude this verse struck a chord in my thoughts and I have not stopped thinking of it since.
Sometimes I hear people talk about their life as if they have gotten some raw deal, they say, “What did I do to deserve this?” Or ask “Why do bad things happen to good people?” This is a very carnal human perspective on life. Turning to Scripture we can quickly realize that there is not such thing as a “good” person (Romans 3:10) and that what all of us as sinners truly deserve is nothing more than judgment and death (Romans 6:23). All of this is reality and yet, each morning the sun rises and we waken to a new day. What we have failed to realize is that the only reason that we are able to wake to each new day is because God is merciful to us.
The beginning of this verse says that we are “not consumed”. We deserve to be consumed by God’s wrath on our sin and judgment for our failure to follow His holiness. This is who God is- perfect, holy, just and good. We are not. Hebrews 12:29 is a stunning verse, “For our God is a consuming fire.” The idea of God as fire makes me think of John 8:12 where He is described as light. I like how this helps us think of sin as darkness and God as light. In His presence there can be no sin because the light consumes the darkness, the darkness flees from it. We are saved, to be set apart to holiness, but often our lives show darkness rather than light. If God’s judgment were to be unleashed on our disobedience and faithless living we would surely be consumed. God knows our hearts, sees our sin and each morning, instead of letting His holy fire consume our lukewarm hearts He is merciful and has compassion on us. Not just once, but every new day. If this is not a reason to be alert in the morning, I don’t know what is!
The last part of this verse and probably the most remembered part of this passage says “Great is Your faithfulness.” This is a sobering statement in light of the reality of what we’ve seen about our sin and wavering hearts. No man constantly follows God, seeking Him with a whole heart, devoted, obedient, pure and holy. We are not faithful to Him. I like how John MacArthur says in his commentary on this verse, “The bedrock of faith is the reality that God keeps all His promises according to His truthful, faithful character.” We say alot of things, in some ways we make alot of promises in what we say. For example we say, “I’m a Christian” but many people often do not live faithful and true to the promise that statement says which would be to deny self and follow Him (Matthew 16:24-25).
I mentioned the verse from Hebrews 12 about God being a consuming fire…the verse previous to it is very hopeful and challenging. It says,
“Therefore, since we are receiving a
kingdom which cannot be shaken,
let us have grace, by which we may serve
God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”
Hebrews 12:28
God is giving us incomprehensible mercies each day. He has provided salvation and forgiveness so that we will live in such a way that reflects the grace that we have been given. Maybe I can do this by living out my dreams and doing what I want, getting fame and fortune, popularity and worldly acclaim. Certainly not! I can’t think of a better way to say it than the writer of Hebrews that each day I must be about serving Him with reverence and godly fear. Not fear of judgment, but fear of His awesome holiness. Is this not the ultimate motivation to turn off the alarm clock and rise excited to live each day?
O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise
The honors of His name!
Awake my soul and celebrate
The wonders of His grace
Let heaven and earth join in one song!