Starting Early

Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing. (Joshua 3:1 NLT)


You are most likely familiar with the popular saying, The Early Bird Gets The Worm . In one of the many stories used to illustrate this adage for kids, a bird had played all night the previous day so the next morning, when all the other birds sang a wake up song and went out to look for food, it continued to sleep. At about noon, it woke up and went out to look for worms to eat. Soon it came back with nothing and starved all day because all the available worms had being eaten by the other birds. It learned its lesson and from the next day was the first bird to wake up to go in search of worms.

You have an advantage to be successful if you start early. In our text, the little phrase "Early the next morning" teaches something. It was not," late in the day" or "in the dead of night. " It illustrates the commitment of Joshua and his followers to success. It showed immediacy, earnestness and purposefulness. It was time to cross the Jordan, a step delayed for over 40 years, and they were committed to doing it so they started early. They weren't the only ones who took advantage of the early dawn. Look at the following passages of scripture:

Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. (Mark 1:35 NLT)

The next morning Abraham got up early. He saddled his donkey and took two of his servants with him, along with his son, Isaac. Then he chopped wood for a fire for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had told him about. (Genesis 22:3 NLT)

O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. (Psalms 63:1 NKJV)

I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. (Proverbs 8:17 KJV)

It does not matter what your endeavor is : student, professional worker, minister, business person, stay -at-home parent or otherwise, successful people in all professions have learned to do things at the proper time. They have learned to utilize the wee hours of the day to capture the rest. Those who are habitually late to start out lose the benefits of the early start. Fresh manna was gathered in the morning before the sun rose (Exo. 16:14-21). Dew from heaven falls on the grass in the early morning. Late risers and latecomers often start the day without fresh manna in their souls and it carries on through their day. Early risers that use the first minutes of the day to nourish their souls in God's presence face the day with fresh dew distilled on their hearts. They are inspired and energized.

Like all of God's word, this is a double-edged truth. While it teaches about the day, it also teaches about life. Delays can be costly in life. Procrastination steals life and throws the precious commodity of time into the dustbins of never-to-be-seen-again history. Start early on your course in life. Don't waste time. If you are still young, start saving early. Seek God while you are young. Don't waste your youth in ephemeral frivolities. Early gives you room to correct inevitable misses on the way. It allows you to go further before the weights and responsibilities of life increases. If you are older and have already wasted precious time, it is never too late to do right. Start now. Make "early" your friend.

Decision of the Day

I will take advantage of the early hours of the day. I will also do away with procrastination. I will not put a task that can be done now till later.