Part 4 of 7 in the series Appointment With God
Men, husbands, fathers, this one is for you.
It was still dark when Abraham got up. He had a long walk ahead and the hardest assignment of his life. Nobody had to wake him. He had been rising early for a long time.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
Genesis 22:3
Read that again. He rose up early. He didn’t delay, and he didn’t negotiate with the morning. That obedience didn’t begin on the mountain. It began years before, in a habit.
Back in Genesis 19 we see him on another morning. “And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD.” (Genesis 19:27) He had a place. He had a time. He stood before God before the day stood before him.
Your son is walking beside you
On that road Isaac walked next to his father. He watched how Abraham moved and listened to how he spoke. When Isaac asked where the lamb was, Abraham answered, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.” (Genesis 22:8) A son can only follow a faith he has seen up close.
God said of Abraham, “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD.” (Genesis 18:19) Your household is learning the way of the LORD from the way you start your day.
The excuses we carry
Men say they’re tired. They say work is heavy, the day is long, and God understands. All true. But the man who carries the household needs the altar more than anyone. A strong man who prays is a different kind of strong.
- Rise twenty minutes earlier than you do now. Not an hour. Twenty.
- Go to the same place every morning. Make it your place of standing.
- Pray before you read a single message.
- Let your children see you pray at least once this week, and tell them why.
“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” (Psalm 5:3) And Joshua drew the line for every man with a house: “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15)
Your mountain is coming. Build the morning now.
Prayer: Father, make me a man who stands before You at the start of the day. Give me the discipline to rise and the humility to pray. Let my household see You in me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.