Getting out of a Devo rut

Weekly Reflections...

Before I help you out of the Morning Quiet Time Rut you may be in (or may find yourself in one day), I have two confessions to make:

First up - I don’t think about Jesus the moment I open my eyes. I KNOW!

I wake up most days as if someone has pulled a burlap sack off my head after knocking me unconscious and moving me to a secure location. It doesn’t matter how much sleep I get or how great it was or if I stopped eating three hours before bed and took magnesium.

That’s just how I wake up.

A lot of people like to think of a 24-hour day like an Old Testament Harvest and, therefor, the first moments are the First Fruits and, therefor again, they should be given to God. There is some truth in this and it works for a lot of people. The psalms are full of examples of seeking God in the morning.

I, however, do not think of the day as a harvest. I think of my time (minutes, hours), attention and energy like a flock. My little herd. And when the Hebrews of Old would bring an animal from their herd to be sacrificed, they picked out the best one - one without blemishes or imperfections. Not the runt of the litter. Not the cow that doesn’t give milk or the goat with worms.

Mornings are not my best goat.

So, even though I do try to remember to acknowledge God, the new day, the new mercies, and so forth, I don’t try to wrestle a diseased pig onto the altar, na mean? I do other things first. Get my coffee. Check my schedule. Play fetch with the cat (yes, cats play fetch which I did not know either until we got one). And then I get cozy somewhere with my Bible and a blanket and spend actual, quality, Fatted Calf Time with God.

Jesus sought God whenever He could, often at night. Daniel prayed three times a day. I think it’s good and important to book end our days with God and I think we can hold it lightly because the most important thing is the relationship, not the ritual.

Secondly, I don’t love