This picture makes me laugh. Laziness really is a problem in America, though. I know it is a problem in my life. And considering how lazy our culture is, when we even move to do anything we feel good about ourselves because we are so much less lazy than our couch potato friends.

I’m actually not going to be talking directly about laziness today, though.

I have been thinking about the morning lately. Christians tend to make it seem like everyone should read their Bible and pray in the morning. You know, morning devotions. But sometimes it seems to me that that's not practical for some people. I was a little doubtful that it was actually any better to do devotions in the morning than at any other time. Maybe you have had the same or similar thoughts.

Here are some quotes about the morning that made me laugh:

There was once a Chinese mandarin who had himself wakened three times every morning simply for the pleasure of being told it was not yet time to get up. -Argosy

I like that mandarin.

The sun has not caught me in bed in fifty years. -Thomas Jefferson

Well, this one is actually more along the lines of unsettling for me… I can tell you the sun has caught me in bed most of my life.

Early morning cheerfulness can be extremely obnoxious. -William Feather

That’s more like it, William. Remember, Proverbs 27:14 says “If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.” :)

I don't think jogging is healthy, especially morning jogging. If morning joggers knew how tempting they looked to morning motorists, they would stay home and do sit-ups. -Rita Rudner

That quote is just awesome.

So today I thought I’d see what I could find in the Bible about it. Actually, today and in the next post, because I didn't want to overwhelm you with three pages today. :)

1) Jesus modeled waking up in the morning to spend time in prayer.

Mark 1:35 says “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, [Jesus] went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”

A great while before day – whoa. Luke 21:38 and John 8:2 also talk about Jesus going early in the morning to talk at the temple.

2) The Psalms talk repeatedly of rising early to pray, seek the Lord, and sing to God. (Oh boy, my voice would not be so hot.)

Psalm 5:3 says “O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.”

Psalm 59:16 says “But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.”

Psalm 63:1 says “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.” [That’s the ESV – other versions say “early I seek you” or something to that extent. It seems like earnestly seeking God and seeking Him in the morning are kind of interchangeable. Hmm.]

Psalm 88:13 says “But I, O LORD, cry to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.”

Join me on Wednesday to look into this morning business further. When do you have devotions? Leave a comment below.