i remember, when i was very small, waking up one winter morning and looking out the window. It was very early, just in the edge of daylight, and as i looked around at the world outside, from the inside looking out, the snow was heavy on the trees. Everything was white and fresh and new. There rose an excitement which caused me to jump and run around the house looking out all the windows at the spectacular world that had appeared sometime in the night.
Looking back in time, as best i can remember, it was the first time i realized how much i loved the morning. In my little boy world, i decided that from then on i would be the first in my house to see and live in all the newness which had never been lived in before. To this day, i love the mornings more than anything, and i still rise very early with an excitement, walking through the house quietly while everyone is still asleep, peeping out the windows, breathing in the freshness of the morning. There is something amazing about it all, it’s mesmerizing to me and i just can’t help it.
When we talk about the morning, we associate daylight, breakfast, coffee, going off to begin the things we begin everyday, but what was God’s idea about it? Did He speak something into the morning that would impact all mankind as long as there is the dawning of a new day, before the end when all things will be revealed?
Lamentations 3:22-23 “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
There is such thing as the “song of the morning” you know. Sun rise is just as spectacular as the sun set. Sun rise sings of a new song, a new day dawning, washed fresh from the night, beautiful in its rising grace.
There is something wonderful about the rising of dawn out of the end of night, that very important time of day when the rising morning light of the new day plows under the end of yesterday. Standing early in the morning, watching the day come to life, i feel…alive, breathing, as if being drawn toward the threshold of Heaven’s gate…So here i stand, poised, watching…waiting…anticipating the morning song…the song of the morning…..it’s almost like a symphony that starts as soft as a whisper … so softly, you’re not sure you’ve actually heard anything. The dawn seems to pick up speed towards its arrival, night is driven back, and sure enough, the symphony of the rising light is actually there and growing in volume. If you listen it can be heard, that is for those who have ears to hear. It is real, it is the song of the Heart of The Father for all man kind, everyday, to be inspired to “return”. The idea of repentance is partly to change your mind concerning salvation and to believe that Jesus really can deliver and save, but God’s idea of repentance is not just to change your mind concerning the salvation offered through Christ, but more to come home. In order to come home, we must realize we have left home and are not at home in this world.
In the morning….there’s just something very important about “in the morning”. It’s like really important stuff always seems to happen at that time. We set off on a trip in the morning, we pray “first thing” in the morning, we begin another day “in the morning”; our thoughts seem more fresh and crisp in the morning – and yes, i know you night owls out there may debate that, but watch the witness, there is something about the way God designed us to operate that is somehow integrated with the rising dawn called, “in the morning”.
All creation has a part of the chorus, just like the various instruments of an orchestra. Each has its part to play in the symphony of praise to God. Let all creation sing to God, in the morning.
Psalm 148:1-5 “Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. 2 Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. 3 Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. 4 Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.”
You know in your heart it’s a good idea… so c’mon….come let us return to the Lord.
Built into the “morning” is the call of God to every person. Within each morning is His intent towards us causing a rise in people’s hearts to return, to come home to Jesus.
Some of the following may seem repetitive, but i believe it’s all worth saying as often as necessary until we get it down in our hearts. Know what i mean?
In the Hebrew word, “rain”, there is the hidden and revealed source of blessing, men may not know where the sprinkling comes from, but when the sprinkling on the earth is revealed, man is inspired to return.
In the “morning”, there is the rising of the light, the plowing under of the evening…. the morning is like an emissary of Holiness, top and first of the day… in the newness of the morning, again, man is inspired to return.
When it “rains” in the “morning”, it is a double pull on the hearts of people, and i don’t know about you, but i get a peculiar longing in my heart. The world may not realize it, but every morning, the appeal of the Lord to return is for everyone, everywhere, calling us to come home.
On that note, some may say returning to God is a fluid process, and the returning heart can arrive home by many different ways, but we must ask ourselves a very necessary question: How does the Lord say we come home? God is very specific about this and it is not flexible. Twice in John 10 Jesus said, “I AM the door”. In John14 Jesus said, “I AM the way, the truth, and life, and no one comes to the father except through me.” And then the passage through to home becomes more defined when Jesus narrows it down even further by saying, “If you have known me then you’ve known the Father” implying that if someone does not know Jesus then they don’t know the Father and can’t reach the Father without going through the son. Returning home is a nice romantic thing to dream about, but it’s more stringent than simply doing however you want, believing whatever suits you, based on what you think or the rumors you’ve heard. God was very specific about who shall return and how they’ll enter into Heaven. Very specific indeed.
Once God has spoken …. once His words have left His mouth, they continue to be spoken. That is amazing! i’ll say it again, Once the Lord has spoken, His words do not stop being said, they will continue until the end when all things will be revealed.
“Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning that is happening before our very eyes; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain upon the earth.” i’ll say that with slightly different words, Let us be steady and ready to study God. Let us be eager for God-knowledge. As sure as dawn breaks, so sure is his daily arrival. God is here! He comes as rain comes, as spring rain refreshing the ground.
In every pleasant thing God has created, know that not only did the Lord make it for us, but there is a subtle call to us all. And yes, i realize i’m using the phrase “call to come home” and “call to return” repetitively, but it’s so important that we hear and understand what the Lord is saying. So much of everything in the world has diluted God’s intent, that in our present system of words and definitions, we easily lose sight of His love.
We are called upon in Philippians4:8 to think on whatsoever things are lovely …. in the word lovely there is a call of the Lord to let go of the hindrances of this life, focus your attention on Jesus, and return to the God of our fathers. When anyone walks into a garden and it’s just busting with brilliant flowers, doesn’t there rise in your heart an inclination to marvel? The call to return pulls at our hearts even when we look at the night sky and gaze at the moon.
The Lord’s longing for us to be restored can be found in almost every part of creation. Many don’t see or hear, but it is there. Will we respond to His ever present call? Either we do or we don’t…there is no sort of, pretty much, or for the most part. It’s a persistent call, an unrelenting call to all mankind, generation to generation, every morning, every evening, every flower, every waterfall, every mist, and every drop of rain which falls, the Lord beckons us to come away with Him, and sing the song of a rising new day.
Many seem to not be aware of the universal call of God…. not knowing what the longing in their hearts is about, but the longing is there none the less. Every time we watch it rain, every time we are mesmerized by the moon and the stars, every morning with the rising of the sun and the dew is fresh on the grass, mankind experiences an unidentifiable desire for restoration and recovery … we yearn to return to God.
The beauty of the morning is always striking and the birds announce the arrival of the new day which wraps our world in wonder. Even when things are bad with us, every morning, we start again with the thoughts of possibilities, thinking, maybe this day will be different. Hope rises on the wings of the new day, joy comes with the morning.
Psalm 90:14, “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” Psalm 30:5, “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote of the morning saying: “I see the spectacle of morning from the hill-top over against my house, from day-break to sun-rise, with thoughts which an angel might share. The long slender bars of cloud float like fishes in the sea of crimson light. From the earth, as a shore, I look out into that silent sea. I seem to partake its rapid transformations: the active enchantment reaches my dust, and I dilate and conspire with the morning wind.”
It was the habit of the hero’s of our faith to rise at the break of day to meet with God. Abraham and Moses rose up early in the morning to stand before the Lord. God sent Moses to stand before Pharaoh in the morning. Joshua, David, Job, Isaiah, Daniel, Jesus, and the Apostles all saw something important about starting the day off by meeting with God in the morning, when the sun begins to crest the eastern sky. They all had a habit of making the Lord the first one they spoke with every morning …. it was a first fruit offering; they gave God the honor of first recognition, first address, and first notice. after all, He is the alpha and omega, and multiple Bible heroes’s honored Him as the first and the last. And you? Who do you honor with your first and last words of the day? We say Jesus is first in our lives, so in light of that common declaration among believers, who is the first person you speak to every morning?
In the morning the brilliant blue larkspur and orange nasturtium blooms seem to glow in large beds against the sunny side of my house, and the swarms of yellow butterflies in continual motion speak of God’s kiss of affection for those who heed His call of grace. Art cannot rival this grandeur, this God-made pageantry of many colors … at the vision, i’m drawn up in worship of the Lord by the rising light of day. With the morning, every morning there is oneness in the house, God’s holiness rising as an emissary who is first and top of the day – the morning is divine.
Jesus, crucified in the evening, was found to be resurrected in the morning of the third day. As published in 1931 by English author Eleanor Farjeon, her lyrics about the most significant morning in history speak of the resurrection of Christ: “Morning has broken, Like the first morning, Black bird has spoken, Like the first bird. Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning! Praise for them springing, Fresh from the Word! Sweet the rain’s new fall, Sunlit from heaven, Like the first dewfall, On the first grass. Praise for the sweetness, Of the wet garden, Sprung in completeness,
Where His feet pass.”
In John 21, after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, maybe the apostles didn’t know what to do next, so, they decided to go fishing. They set up their nets, launched their boats and they worked all…night….long. They knew how to accomplish their trade, but there was no benefit for their work at that point … and fishing like those guys fished was indeed hard work. In the morning, that’s right….in the morning, Jesus met them and directed their work. In the morning God showed up and they were fruitful. And notice, the Lord could have shown up at any time, but He chose the morning, when the light plows under the evening and begins anew. i’m telling you, i don’t know what it is, but there’s just something very important about meeting with God in the morning. …it sets the tone for the day, it seems to put things in order and in a righteous array. All i can say is, on the wings of the morning, in the early morning light, the rising day brings the mercy and goodness of God which extends beyond the vanishing point. Think About it!
To recap a bit, indeed, there is something wonderful about the rising of dawn out of the end of night. It is a very important time when the fading darkness transitions into the new day. When the Lord divided the light from the darkness in Gen 1:5, and there was evening and morning, the first day, but when He named the morning, i believe God’s heart was infused in the event. Morning comes everyday all around the world, and the Lord imparted to the rising light which plows under yesterday, to be like an emissary of His Holiness, top and first of the day… in the newness of the morning, man is inspired to return. Come let us return to the Lord, for He will raise us up to live before Him, and He will send to us the rain in the morning, watering the earth.
Psalm143:8, “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.”
i’m Social Porter and this has been Outposts, cool jazz and contemplative conversation from the deck overlooking the Ockluhwahhah River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge and every evening is pleasant.
Be strong and courageous this week. Try rising early to meet with God. Make Jesus the first and last person you speak to, Honor Him who died and rose from the dead so you can have life, and have it more abundantly.
Pray for your neighbors and friends, take God at His word – cover to cover; breathe easy and hold the line. i’ll talk to you next time, amen.