"Early Will I Seek Thee"

by Bass Mitchell

Psalm 63:1 "O God, thou art my God; EARLY WILL I SEEK
THEE...." (KJV).

Do you ever get a tune or song in your mind and you can't get rid of it?

I remember once getting the tune to "Gilligan's Island" stuck in my mind
like a broken record. For three days I couldn't stop it! Drove me crazy!
Opps...just writing about it tends to bring it back...if it starts playing
in your mind...well...sorry...

Sometimes a verse from the Bible does that. Some phrase from my
daily reading just lodges in my mind and for days, even weeks I find
myself reflecting on it. The more you read and study the Bible, the more
common this experience. Unlike a silly tune from a television show, you
don't want to try to get rid of it. In fact, you find it of great comfort
and guidance. God, you see, has a way, as we study the Word, of putting
those verses, those truths we most need right there into our hearts and
minds, ready when we need them.

A phrase from the Psalms has been playing over and over again in my
heart recently:

"O God, thou art my God; EARLY WILL I SEEK THEE..."

What does that mean for me and you this coming new year?

It says to me to seek God early in my life and encourage others to do
the same.

"Remember your creator in the days of your youth..." (Eccl.12:1).

What greater tragedy is there than to try to go through life without
knowing God? We can make a lot of friends, have many companions in
our days, but none so important or meaningful than God.

To my children and yours:

"I know that you want many things in your life and out of life. You have
a lot of dreams and needs. But don't be misled. Your greatest need is
GOD! Without a meaningful relationship with God, you will never be
whole or happy. As St. Augustine said, "Lord, you made us for
yourself, and we can never know rest until we rest in thee." Count on
this. You can have everything your heart has ever desired, but without
God, you will always feel empty and unfulfilled.

You like to listen to CD's? What would happen if you took a CD or
record and bored a hole just off center of it and then tried to play it?
What would it sound like? Pretty awful. Yet, if you place the CD on
the center, then you bring out the beauty of the music that's there. There
is beautiful music in each of you. And it will come out of your life the
closer you get to the right center - God!"

The Psalmist wrote, "For you, O God, are my hope, my trust, O Lord,
from my youth" (71:5). If my children can one day say this, then I will
feel that I have been a successful parent.

Lord, we want to be better examples for the young ones around us this
new year. May our steps lead them closer to you - our Holy Center.

"Early will I seek thee," the Psalmist writes.

What does that mean this new year?

I think it means, "Seek the Lord EARLY in all your decisions and
endeavors."

How many decisions, great or small, will we make this new year? On
how many of them will we seek God's guidance?

I confess that often I have made decisions without asking God's
guidance. Sometimes I've started some new venture without even
thinking about God! You know what I discovered? Most of these
didn't work out so well. Some were real bummers.

Have you ever had that experience? You make a decision all on your
own. It's a disaster. And you prayed, "Lord, why didn't I check this
out with you first?" Of course, we still must act in faith and still might
fail. But when we do, it seems we are better able to cope with it because
we are truly seeking God's will.

We are not here to do our own thing! We are Christians! We
proclaim, "Jesus is Lord!" IF he is Lord, then we should be constantly
turning to him for direction and guidance in everything. We live to serve
and honor him.

This is not just for the major decisions - but every decision - no matter
how large or small. Not one of them is unimportant to God. God
cares about every part of our lives, and wants to be involved in every
part.

And what about our church? What about all the meetings and plans we
will have and make this new year? Wonder what would happen in
1999 if the church had but one agenda: To seek, to know, to do God's
will?

"In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path (Proverbs
3:6). Lord, let this be our daily prayer, our most heartfelt desire this
new year. Let it be S.O.P. - Standard Operating Procedure!

"Early will I seek thee.."

To me this means to seek God early in the day.

When Meredith, my daughter, was small, she was always the first
person up in our house each morning. She was the self-appointed alarm
clock for the rest of us. Her first action was to come into our bedroom
and make sure we were awake. She'd climb up onto the bed and
snuggle between us. Her first thought is to find mom and dad. She did
that because she wanted to be with us. She needed to know we were
there. Then everything else would be okay.

Can you think of a better way for God's children to begin each day this
new year than with thoughts of God and a desire to seek God?
Snuggling up to God is a great way to begin the day. As much as I like
my morning coffee, the "best part of waking up" is not Folger's in my
cup," but God in my heart, on my mind.

This gets the day off right, it focuses us on the right things, the most
important priorities. Best of all it gives us a sense of God's presence
throughout the day. When we know God is with us, we are then better
able to face whatever the day may bring.

"I met God in the morning when the day was at its best...So I
think I know the secret; learned from many a troubled way; you
must seek God in the morning, if you want him through the day."
(From a poem entitled "The Secret")

One day a mother was searching anxiously for her six-year old son. At
last she saw him way up near the top of the tallest tree in their yard.

"Johnnie," she cried out, "you get down here right this minute!"

She watched nervously as the little boy climbed limb by limb down to
the ground. As he walked toward her, she noticed a very serious look
on his face.

"What were you doing up there?" she scolded him.

He looked up at her with a seriousness on his face she had never seen
before and said, "Mommy, I went up there to look for God."

Well, my prayer for you and for me this new year is that each day we
might find ourselves, maybe not in the top of trees, but with a greater
desire to seek God - starting this day, right now, and in every decision
we face, and early in each new day.

I can hope nothing greater for you or myself this new year than a ever
deepening sense of the presence of God in our lives.

Lord, early will we seek You! Let us never tire of that tune!

Amen.

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Bass Mitchell, Hot Springs, VA
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