My husband and I are so different. He gets up before the sun, has his coffee, something to eat, and is ready to go. I do not get up before the sun unless there is an earth-shattering reason for me to do so—like catching an early flight. J I sleep in until six-thirty or seven in the morning. Then I take some meds, take a walk, and have coffee, breakfast, and Bible reading when I return. 

Neither of these ways of getting up in the morning are the right or wrong way. This is the way we are both wired and how we choose to start our days. 

Whether I start the day by jumping out of bed raring to go, or I drag my exhausted carcass to the kitchen for the first cup of coffee before anyone dare speak to me, the most important choice I make for my day is expressed in the following Psalm.

O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. Psalm 63:1 (NKJV)

There are four points that stand out to me in this one verse. I’m sure you can see them too.

1. O God, You are my God—Every day I must make a decision on Who or what will be my God/god. Self is a big contender as I want to please my selfish desires. If I choose to please myself, even saying I’m doing an action for God, without consulting Him first, then He is not my God. I must choose to put Him first. Right away. Every day.

• Early will I seek You—I try to pray first thing, before I open my eyes and even consider getting out of bed. Does that always happen? No. Life happens and sometimes I have to jump out of bed and rush off to handle some minor crisis or another. I remind myself it is okay because as soon as possible, I can seek God’s counsel. Also, I do not set my alarm so I get up first to seek God. This isn’t a case of the early bird gets the worm. God’s grace doesn’t run low as the day goes by. Early is in reference to an individual’s sleeping pattern, because some people don’t have the option to rise early in the day.

• My soul thirsts for You—There have been few times I’ve been without water long enough to be truly thirsty. There is an element of suffering in the Hebrew word for thirsty. I don’t know if I’ve ever suffered from thirst. But I can imagine and read accounts of others. My soul thirsts. 

But does it? Is God just a passing thought or prayer to me? Do I pray something like, “Morning, God. Help me with my day,” and then go on about my business without another thought about Him? Sometimes, it’s true. But, that isn’t a soul suffering thirst. I want to feel the thirst for God and to do that I have to drink of His word every day to the point that I can’t start my day without Him.

• My flesh longs for You—Not only my soul should be longing for God, but my flesh too. It’s like every cell in my physical form should be tuned in to God and longing for His filling and His presence. Not just my heart. Or my brain. Not my hands or my feet. But every particle of me should be His and be longing for Him.

Even though I have time when I don’t follow the above truths, I still strive for these values. To make my day start right, I need God at the opening, throughout the day, and at the closing. 

Then whether I’m up early, early like my husband or sleep in until noon, my day would be pretty perfect.