I’ll admit it. I’ve been proud, arrogant and probably a little bit stupid. Blame it on seminary. Blame it on being raised in the church. Or, more likely, blame it on my tendency to float towards pharisaic tendencies. But, for the longest time, I have rejected the idea of devotions. All I needed was the Bible. One verse, a story and a sentence prayer wasn’t going to cut it for me. I needed meat.
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat… (1 Corinthians 3:2 KJV)
While I still agree that we all need the meat of God’s Word, usually I’m better prepared after a few hours of wakefulness. I’m learning that I’m not ready for steak at breakfast, but milk is pretty delicious.
If I’m honest with myself, my mental intake first thing in the morning has often been the nutritional equivalent of gummy bears. As soon as I silence the alarm on my phone in the morning, my fingers take me to my email closely followed by Facebook.
My first thoughts are not of my Savior and what He has done but instead about what I need to do and what others around me are doing. And, to be a little more honest, this practice hasn’t set me up well to focus on Christ’s work in my life throughout the day to come.
For the past few weeks, I’ve allowed the first few moments of my morning to be spent in a two minute devotion, specifically Rick Warren’s Transformed devotional, available through YouVersion’s Bible app. While it is no substitute for focused time in God’s Word, it has helped me to have a more Christ-centered focus as I start my day.
If you haven’t checked out the app, or it’s many Bible reading plans, take a look. You can even set up a daily reminder. Mine comes at the same time as my morning alarm.
Steak beats milk, but milk beats gummy bears. Praying you find a way to start your day focused on Jesus!!
How about you? How do you start your day focused on Christ?