Early in the Morning…

Last night as I was watching one of my new favorite shows, Undercover Boss, one of the unsuspecting workers caught my attention. The producers did a great job of setting up this point by showing the boss making mention of how he never got up as early as he was that day. 3:30 A.M. was the time shown on the alarm clock. He got dressed, went to the job site, and met a man who got out of bed at that early hour to go to work every day.

When the boss asked him how he could possibly do that, day in, day out, his reply was very simple: "You get used to it." He then elaborated on that thought by explaining how he had 5 children, two of whom were adopted. He said that he wanted to work at a job that would allow him to spend time with his kids. What an amazing man, and what a sacrifice! Here was a man who had a mission in mind. In order to accomplish that mission, he knew what he had to do. He arose early in the morning.

From there, I'm drawn to the text of Joshua chapter 6. You likely remember this as being the chapter which tells us about Israel's defeat of Jericho. Described there are people who had a mission. There are a couple things that I'd like for you to make note of:

1. They arose early in the morning to do God's work. Notice what we read in Joshua 6:12. After having been given commands about what to do, these people did not waste time in the day getting started. It plainly states in verse 12 that "Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord." They didn't dilly dally around. They got up and got going.
   


2. They did their work without complaining! Notice what we read in verse 10. Joshua was relaying the commands that had come from God. He tells them that they "shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout." They didn't have a chance to complain, but one wonders whether they also had in mind the things that the previous generation had suffered. Paul makes note of the danger of complaining in 1 Corinthians 10:10, where we see that some of the number of the Children of Israel had complained. Their end had been destruction.
   

The results of this speak for themselves [pun intended, D.H.]. What about us? What is our mission? Do we have our minds set on the work of God in this way? Are we willing to rise up early in the morning to do His work? What about rising up early in the morning to do the following:

1. Study the Bible. There's no better way to start off your day than by setting your minds on things above (Colossians 3:2).
   


2. Pray for others. Take the church bulletin, or maybe your own prayer list and pray for those people. Take a few extra moments to give thanks to God, and to ask Him if he might open some door today for you to share the Gospel with someone (Colossians 4:3).
   


3. Do these things with your family! Remember what it means to build a home centered on God (Psalm 127:1). Otherwise, it's vanity to rise early!
   


4. Rise up early in the morning on Sunday. Prepare your mind to worship God before you get to services (Psalm 122:1). Notice how that mindset came before David made it to the House of the Lord!
   

I think that if we all can make this effort, we'll notice the fruits of those things (1 Timothy 4:15)!