Why I get up in the Morning

I can remember a time in my life where I would wake up and say to myself "oh geez...what am I going to do today..." in high school, or in college it would be "Yes! It's 3 pm and I just woke up, and I have nothing I have to do today!" Even if I had 2 finals the next day. And there is the ever-so popular "I wish I could just go back to bed and not have to go anywhere today." I have to admit this still comes around in my mind every once in a while. But being a Christian gives us a new reason to get up every morning - to serve God. I can't think of anything more exciting. Dallas Willard (Renovation of the Heart) suggests saying a prayer every morning to the likes of "Lord, please prepare me to serve your kingdom today." If we approach every day like this, we will always have something to do everyday, and if we are passionate about it, we will always want to get up in the morning. It's all about the here and now. Today we have the option: we can ignore what God is doing and go about our lives, or we can embrace the challenge that He has put before us, each and every day:

What can you going to do for My Kingdom today??

I was watching a movie last night with my brother titled "Control." One line in the movie gripped me, it was comedic, but at the same time simple and intelligent. The line was said by Michelle Rodriguez to Ray Liotta:

"If you keep one eye on the past, and one eye on the future, you'll end up cross-eyed."

Of course, every time I say the line I actually do this, and my eyes get crossed, and I laugh at what a ridiculous person I can be =). After dinner we played charades at Dr. Peter Moore's house on Friday, and Barbara (One of the Pittsburgh Fellows - this pic's from Beccas house, as you can see, I am very happy to be eating[I'm in the orange]) called me the most "random person she has ever met" - and after realizing that I have crossed my eyes about 10 times since yesterday, I'd have to agree.

But the quote is good, especially when thinking about the relevance of living today for God. When thinking about the past, and the signifcance of it, 1 verse always come to heart:

Is. 43:18-19

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!"

Does this mean to complete "Forget" the past? No...but remember, if our ultimate goal is to be Christ-like, what does Christ do? He doesn't look at us for our past, he looks at us for our "here and now." He wants to know what we are going to do today for him - he does not Judge, therefore we do not judge others, and should not judge ourselves. Repent, our sins will be forgiven, and we should forget them. I'll write a little more on my next post on this.

As far as the future is concerned, it is much simpler - by putting our faith and our trust in God, we are letting Him know that our future is in His hands, and whichever paths he takes us down is exciting. This is why every morning when I wake up, I get excited - think about the AMAZING things God can and will do for us every day if we let Him. THAT is what is great about getting up every morning, and for that I'm thankful.

So every morning when you get up from sleeping like this little guy here, look at the day as an opportunity to matter what is going on in your life. And if it isn't clear, ask "What can be done today - what needs to be done today," and you'll figure out what it is, or better yet, you'll discover what it is.