It is early in the morning, still. My body begs me to stay in bed, but my hyperactive brain has begun to stir and keeps me from falling back to sleep. Groggy and tired, I swing my legs over the edge of the bed and sit for a minute.
A new day lies before me. Parts of it are pre-determined by work, tasks around the house, and routines of self-care. Parts of it are wide open, and I get to choose what to do with them.
That very moment, sitting on the edge of my bed, ready to start a new day, determines how that day will go. The most important decision is made right then, even as my mind wants to go in a million directions, my brain is still foggy, and my body still rebels against any motion or activity.
The decision is to either just get up, let my mind wander where it wills, and start my morning routine, or to direct my mind towards God as my first thought by praying the words of Psalm 63:1 “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
Praying those words sets me on a course toward desiring God’s presence throughout the day, spending time in His Word and in prayer before busyness sets in. Practicing His presence throughout the day. Involving Him in all I do. Attaching myself as a branch to the Vine so His life and power can flow into me and through me to bear fruit for His glory. Putting off the old self with its passions and desires and putting on Christ. Donning the armor of God to stand firm against the devil’s attempts to steer me away from God and back under his power.
Ignoring those words sets me on a course of estrangement from His presence, of busy, but empty activities, vulnerability to Satan’s attacks on my faith and well-being, spiritual dryness, keeping in step with the desires of my flesh instead of the Spirit, and spiritual powerlessness. It sets me back spiritually and I know from experience that I will have to fight harder the next day to recapture my awareness of His presence.
The night is a watershed between one day and the next that God has designed for us. The world goes dark, we go to sleep, our body rests and renews itself, while our subconscious brain sorts out all the experiences, memories, and impressions from the previous day so it can be ready to take on another load.
I think that is the reason why the Bible emphasizes taking our life one day at a time. Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 6:34: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Further back in time, the prophet Jeremiah exclaimed: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” The people of Israel wandering around in the desert were warned in Exodus 16:4 to only gather enough manna for the day. If they kept any for the next day, it would spoil. And at the very beginning of time, God divided the creation of the universe up into days, separating them into periods of light and darkness (See Genesis 1:3). That is His design for life. Science calls it the circadian rhythm. Activity, rest, and restoration, followed by a new round of activity.
For that reason, we have to make the decision every morning whether or not we want to seek Him. His promise to us in Hebrews 11:6 is that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. But the seeking is up to us. It is a decision we make.
And we can’t make that decision for two days in a row. We have to make it anew every morning. That prayer from Psalm 63:1, earnestly I seek you, is both a prayer to God and an exhortation to our soul to make that the first priority of our day, and let the rest of what we do in our waking hours flow from that.
That is why it is the most important decision of your day. God is ready to reward us, bless us, pour His mercies out on us, cause His empowering grace to flow to us, protect us, guide us, instruct us, change us, and use us for His glory. None of that happens unless we seek Him and draw near to Him first. He has left that decision up to us. It is a test of our appetites, the affections of our hearts. If we set them on God, he will meet us in spectacular ways. If we set them on our earthly desires, He will stay back and let us wander around in the dust of our daily cumber.
So what will you do when you swing your legs over the edge of your bed tomorrow morning? What will you say to God and to your soul as your feet hit the floor? What you choose will be the difference between spiritual life and death for that day.