Spirit of Christmas: seeking Jesus daily
We must purpose in our hearts to seek God before we do anything else in the day. This runs contrary to our busy lives and the philosophy of today that many Christians have adopted. Each day must begin with our personal time with the Lord. The Bible teaches us, through the testimony of three men, Abraham, Daniel, and David, that there is a real benefit to seeking the Lord first thing in the morning, before we begin to meet the stresses and demands of each day. The Bible records the morning routine of Abraham: And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD (Genesis 19:27). Each morning he sought God first; from the wording of this particular verse and his testimony recorded within the scriptures, it is probably safe to say this was Abraham’s daily routine. The phrase “the place where he stood before the Lord” allows us to understand this was a specific place set aside where Abraham went to seek the Lord’s presence.
The book of Psalms also gives us the impression that David, the author of many of the Psalms, spent daily time with the Lord. He wrote, O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is (Psalms 63:1), and Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice (Psalms 55:17), among the other numerous verses where David sets before us the desire of his heart to seek God – not just once per day, but three times! In the book of Daniel, we are given the testimony of Daniel’s prayer life: Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime (Daniel 6:10). In the lives of these three men, they were determined to start each day in a time of prayer and fellowship with the Lord. This simple practice allowed them to handle the trials, temptations, and difficulties of daily life. There is a great spiritual reward for those who make seeking God first every day a priority in their life.
This concept of seeking God first daily is carried into the New Testament. Paul considered our fellowship with the Lord, our devotion to Him, and the daily time spent with Him a part of our reasonable service. It pleases the Lord when we make the very first part of our day about serving Him. Paul wrote, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1). It is a sacrifice to set aside time at the start of each morning to spend it in fellowship with the Lord. But Paul calls it our reasonable sacrifice – after all, our redemption from the bonds of sin were purchased with His own shed blood. Paul probably knew what David had wrote many years before: My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up (Psalms 5:3) and what Solomon had wrote of the promise of the Lord: I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me (Proverbs 8:17).
