When does your day begin?

Mike and I were in a bookstore recently (shock, I know!) and he handed me a book that he thought I may like to peruse so I stood there in the aisle and skimmed it quickly...it didn't take long for me to determine that I didn't want to read the whole book, but one thing I read spoke a word of encouragement to me.  The author posed the question: When does your day begin?  Is it when you drag your hiney out of bed?  Is it when you pour a cup of that beloved drug of choice, coffee?  When?  What does God tell us about when our day begins? From Genesis 1, we read...

·         So the evening and the morning were the first day.

·         So the evening and the morning were the second day.    

·         So the evening and the morning were the third day.

·         And so on…”evening and the morning” = day.

Our day begins with rest, not a cup of coffee.  God gives rest, He strengthens first.  It was simply an encouragement to me to be reminded of that.  Perspective matters.

In the Old Testament, man was commanded to work six days and rest the seventh…isn’t it beautiful that with the coming of Jesus who is making all things new, our week now begins with rest and then we work 6 days.  In God’s original creation He gave us rest first in the day, and in the new creation He gives us a day of rest/worship before asking us to do a single lick of labor.  Our week doesn’t start with a to-do list, it starts with gathering with our Savior in our Father’s house with all our family in heaven on earth to worship and praise the God of all grace!  Our day doesn’t begin with the “drug of choice” to get us moving and able to take on the day, it begins with rest given by our Father to prepare us for the new day He is graciously giving us to live out in His presence open handed to receive all He gives, with joy, for His glory.

To God be all glory!  May He give you rest as you gather with His people to praise Him today!