It’s Not Too Late

“I love them that love Me; and those that seek Me early shall find Me.”  Proverbs 8:17

One way to describe people into two categories is those who are morning people and those who are not morning people.  I am a morning person.  There is something about getting up before the sun rises, eating breakfast, and then spend one to two hours in diligent Bible study.  Everything is quiet, and there are no distractions.  The robocalls and scammers don’t usually call folks in the early morning hours.  I wish they didn’t call at all.  I answered a scam call one time.  It was one of those calls where the caller tells you to go to your computer because there is something wrong with it.  I wasn’t born yesterday.  I said to the man, “Can I ask you something?”  He said, “Yes”.  I said, “If you died today, do you know where you would spend eternity?”  He hung up on me.  Now, I was prepared to give him the gospel and at least make him to know that he could repent of his sins and be forgiven, trust in Christ, and have the assurance of his eternal destination.  Perhaps my question planted a seed.  You could tell that he was calling from another country.  It could have been one where Christianity is not very popular.  People who do not like for other people to talk about Jesus and the gospel see those witnesses as being “intolerant”, but those who refuse to hear the truth are the ones who are displaying intolerance.

Let me get back to the subject of Bible study.  In the early morning hours, it is just the Lord and me:  He speaks, and I listen through His word.  What He has to say to me is so much more valuable than anything that I can say to Him.  I do ask Him each morning as I sit at my desk to show Himself to me and make Himself real to me in the pages of His word.  And He does.  I have studied the Bible for many years, but the method by which I study it now has opened my eyes to things that I never saw before.  One cannot depend on the preacher or the Sunday School teacher to bring out the precious word as in depth as one can receive in personal Bible study.  When I study scripture, the world seems to disappear for a while.  All the concerns and worries that I have just dissipate for that hour or two.  The Bible is the most relevant book ever written.  It is amazing at the things which were happening in the ancient world as told in scripture are happening today.  The solutions to the problems 2,000 years ago are still the same solutions to our problems in this current age.

Sometimes when I am studying, I can hear a little bird which is sitting in a tree outside and singing his little heart out.  I think that he, or she, is singing praises to the Lord.  God gave the little bird the ability to sing so why wouldn’t he use his melodious song in honor of his Creator.  We call God’s furry and feathered creatures “dumb animals”, but in some respects, they are smarter than people who don’t give God the glory and honor that He deserves.  It is relaxing when you are outdoors to just stop and listen to the sounds of nature.  God made a beautiful world, but people, because of their sinful ways, have made it into something which God never intended.  One day, though, He will make it all new again.  Rising up early and spending time with the Lord gets the day off to a good start and helps carry us throughout the day.  It is so much easier to concentrate and listen to God before our day gets all cluttered with tasks, errands, concerns, problems, and worries.

For those, though, who are not morning people, I think God appreciates it when they spend time in His word no matter what time of day it is.  God is God 24 hours a day.  Mornings just don’t work for some folks, particularly if there are children to get off to school and jobs in which one’s presence is required whether working at an office, store, warehouse, etc. or at home.  It may be nearly impossible to spend an hour in Bible study, but how about 15 minutes?  I don’t think that God sets a timer whenever one sits down to delve into His word.  It’s all about the heart’s desire to learn and hear from God.  The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote that God “is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (11:6b).  It’s not too late to get started with a workable plan to study God’s word.  You will be surprised at how much you will learn and grow in faith.