The Early Bird

“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
John 8:1

Now early in the morning, my text says: “very early in the morning”, He came again into the temple and all the people came to Him, and He sat down and taught them.”

And then we go to Proverbs 6:10:

“A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep—
So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,…”

We have got to get up in the morning! What do they say - The early bird catches the worm, that’s right! Do you know, I have never, ever conceived in my mind or my heart or my spirit that our beloved Jesus slept in or overslept... or didn’t get up in the morning. I don’t think there is one place that you will find in the whole Bible where the Lord had to be woken up, apart from the time He was sleeping in the ship, but that was for a different reason. He was an early riser.

One of my trustees, Eric, gets up at 1.30 am every morning. That is when he does his work and he has his quiet time. He has done it his whole life. You might say, “Well, Angus, I am a pensioner now.” Well, this man is 87 years young, that’s right! And it is no coincidence that he opened the Wimpy Franchise, right throughout the world. We have got to get up in the morning.

When I was actively farming, I got most of my work done before 9 o’clock in the morning - That was my most effective time. I would come back and have breakfast with Jill at 9 o’clock, but we got all the work going, everything was running smoothly before the sun even came up... many a time.

You know, Jesus always conferred with His Father before He conferred with the people and that is why you and I need to spend time early in the morning with the Lord. Otherwise, poverty, as it says in Proverbs, will come upon you. Have you noticed how many things always seem to go so much smoother when you get up in the morning and you do them straight away?

Now, why I am sharing this with you is because yesterday my one son said to me: "Dad, I have just found a swarm of bees in the tree.” And so I went along and I captured that swarm of bees and took them to one of my beehives and I put them in there. And then early this morning, yes this very morning, when I was lying, praying with my wife in the bed, I realized those little bees have got no food to eat. You see, we have just come out of winter. So what did I do? I got in my pick-up. I put my bee suit on and off I went to the forest with the lights on in my pick-up. But you know - it went so smoothly. I was able to put honey in there for the bees. They were quiet, they were still just totally restful.

I want to say to you today, try it and see. Get up in the morning. Discipline yourself and your day will go so much smoother - Speak to Jesus first!

God bless you and have a wonderful week.