My husband doesn’t travel often; however, recently he has had a few trips back to back. We all really miss him when he is gone, even though we understand the necessity of his trips. This morning he called home to say good morning and just wish everyone a good day. My daughter had been dragging around the house half asleep trying to get herself motivated for another day of school. When I called to her and asked her to answer the phone, she grumbled something and then picked up the phone downstairs. When her daddy said good morning to her, everything about her changed. Her face lit up into a smile and with a bright, cheery voice her rely was “Hey, Daddy!” It was like she was a different person. She was so excited to talk to her daddy.
Laura and her daddy have a special relationship. They love to spend time together just hanging out. They have their own made up words for milkshakes and other things they share a common interest in and it is precious to watch them together. She still runs and jumps in his arms when he comes home just like she did when she was 3. They have invested time in their relationship and the result is a strong and precious relationship.
Our heavenly Father longs to have close relationship with us with an intimacy that only comes from spending time together. He desires for us to get excited when He calls our name and for the sound of His voice to bring us joy. This will never happen if your relationship with Him consists of blessings before meals, bedtime prayers and regular church attendance. Relationships take time to build. The type of relationship you have is determined by what you are willing to invest in it.
In Matthew 6:33 Jesus tells us to seek first the things of God, and then everything else will follow. We need to make Him our priority. Mark 1:35 says “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Jesus made His time with the Father His priority. God wastes nothing, including our time or space in the Bible. He could have had Mark write “early in the morning Jesus got up,” but He didn’t. He went to great lengths to stress that His time with God was before ANYTHING else. How do I know this? He stated “VERY EARLY in the morning, WHILE IT WAS STILL DARK…” We have a clear picture of when this took place.
What do you do first thing in the morning? Do you run into your Daddy’s arms full of joy and excitement about your time with Him? If not, would you be willing to try? I promise you the Father will not disappoint you.