Early In The Morning

Early in the Morning

Q: What did Jesus get up before daybreak to do?

• a. go fishing
• b. eat
• c. pray

Are you a morning person? Do you hop right out of bed when your alarm goes off, or does one of your parents have to drag you out of bed?

The Bible tells us that Jesus got up very early in the morning, went outside by himself, and prayed. Even though Jesus was the Son of God, he found it important to rise early and find a place alone to talk to God. If it was important for Jesus to do that, it’s important for us to do that too.

Jesus may have picked early morning because the busyness of the day hadn’t started yet. He wanted to spend the first minutes with his heavenly Father before he spent time with the disciples, taught the crowds, or healed the sick.

Starting the day with God is a good idea. When you wake up, you are fresh for the day. You haven’t faced home, school, or friendship issues yet.

Jesus also went to a place where he was totally alone. It’s important for you to find a place with no cell phone, iPod, or computer for distractions and where you don’t hear your siblings arguing about who gets the bathroom first or who finished off the cereal.

Try to follow Jesus’ example and start each day alone with God this week.

For You

Your parents may not want you to get up at daybreak like Jesus, but perhaps you could get up 10 minutes early and go outside and sit on your trampoline or lawn chair to pray. If you aren’t sure what to say, just share your hopes for the day with God. Be sure to listen to what he has to say to you, too.

Answer: c

Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.   Mark 1:35

(The Whole Story: Mark 1:35-39; Luke 4:42-44)