Very Early

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

VERY EARLY

Mark 1:35-37

35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"

NIV

There is no time like first thing in the morning, even while it is still dark, to get up and get away by our self in some solitary place and spend time with God.  Now it may be true Jesus did not have to take a shower, get dressed, and get to work on time five days a week. It may also be true that Jesus did not have to make sure the children got up on time and make them breakfast so they could get to the school on time. There are a lot of things Jesus did not have to do that are a regular part of our mornings each and every day, but the fact remains he got up very early in the morning, while it was still dark, and found a place to be alone with his Father. True, he left the house and that may not be an option for us, but we still and get up very early in the morning instead of staying in bed. We still can find a place to be alone, if everyone else is still sleeping. We can even make a pot of coffee and sit at the kitchen table and spend time with God. We could read some scripture, we could pray, we could write a devotional in a notepad, or on a computer. The point is we would be doing what Jesus did. If he needed to start his day very early in the morning alone with his Father, we might take a lesson here and get up very early in the morning before anyone else is up and get alone with our Father. As we note, when the others did get up everyone was looking for him. That would imply he did have a whole lot of responsibilities to others. People were looking for him so that is why he got up very early in the morning while it was still dark to get alone with his Father. We have responsibilities to others, but that does not give us an excuse not to get up early in the morning so we can get alone with our Father. If Jesus didn’t do that, he would never have the time because his day was cram packed with teaching and healing and doing the will of his Father. Sure we have full days with lots of activities that demand our time, so that is why it is so important for us to get out of bed very early in the morning and start our day with the Father. So let us get up very early.