Jesus Is the Beginning of My Day and Everything Else
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
For years, I heard Christians talk about a ‘Quiet Time’ and how gettting up in the morning and reading your Bible and praying was such a big deal. I blew it off as just another rule trying to get me to do what people wanted and some mindless activity. I knew reading my Bible and praying was good, so I’d get around to it sometime during the day and everything was cool.
When my first child was born, sleep bacame a really desired commodity! We quickly learned, “If he goes to sleep, you should hurry up and go to sleep too while you can!” so I started to go to sleep early. Within a few months, we had nailed the reasonable bedtime habit and he was sleeping all night. Suddenly I was able to wake up in the morning, after a good night’s sleep, before the rest of the world (and my growing family) woke up.
That put Jesus in a unique place in my life. Not only was He the first in my priorities, hopes and dreams, and theoretically in all of creation: Jesus was first in my day.
That was about 20 years ago and the habit has fluctuated some but it has otherwise stuck. (Of course I’m publishing this later today, so there is some built in grace!)
Letting Jesus be the beginning is the best way to start anything, especially your day. Note it is present tense in that verse. “He is the beginning,” right now. Jesus wasn’t just the beginning when everything started, but He is still active. He is still chief.
When you go see a comedian, he or she is going to tell their second best joke first, and their best joke last of all. That makes you view the whole routine through the lens of that really funny joke, and then remember it by their funniest.
Starting with Jesus at the beginning of everything helps us to see every demand of the day, every temptation of evil, every random thought and blessing through that lens. Viewing it from Jesus’ perspective from the beginning helps us with the reality of the whole world.
And it helps us look forward to the end, which will be even more wonderful and amazing.
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