"Dedication"

"Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word." (Psalms 119:148)

  Just so you know, dedication is the reason that things actually get done, despite all obstructions and failures in trying to get it right; no matter what it is that you are trying to do, if you are not dedicated to doing it, it will not get done. Here is the thing that makes so much sense, whether you are a morning person or night, you must prevent the things that cause you to stop or let go of your dedication. In David's case, his was sleep, as in, no matter what time he might go to bed, his time with the Lord was not going to be disturbed or disrupted! If you don't think this is a thing, then think again; because if there is one thing that has disturbed or disrupted my time with the Lord, it is just that, sleeping in! It happens now and again; whether it is the Lord's doing, my own, or the enemy, it just sometimes happens. But when it does, and it is usually out of the blue, I try to determine what went wrong and prevent it from happening again. To be perfectly honest, there is no distractions at 4am except for those that I allow; like my need to sleep when I feel really tired. The number of nights that have been limited to three or four hours of sleep are more and more frequent, but my sleep never feels robbed. For me, sleep is overrated and gets in the way of getting things done. Back in the eighties, I heard a segment on the radio, that someone said, "Sleeping eight hours a night means that you are asleep a third of your life." From that time on, I decided to not let that happen and choose to only sleep one fourth of my life; so I have lived the last thirty something years limiting myself to no more than six hours of sleep a night. I don't think it has taken a toll on my health or harmed me in any way. But what it has done, is it has given me a few more hours a day to get things done. Besides that, there are very few people that like to get up and move around at 4am, so it allows me the time to be alone with God. If you are having a problem making time to have routine devotions, I highly recommend that you make 4am your devotion time. Try it and see, you won't know how good it feels until you give it a try. This word, "prevent," is the same word as prevented used in the previous verse; it continues the narrative of being on guard or going before, as in, preparation for dedication. A really good alarm clock is one way of making that happen. Another way to spark a little energy into that, is not to call it an alarm clock, but to call it an opportunity clock instead! As one of my favorite motivational speakers said, "If you hear it, it means that your still alive, and you have another opportunity to get things done!" Now that is preparation for dedication...

"Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mothers womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don't know if profit will come from one activity or another -or maybe both. Light is sweet; how pleasant is a new day dawning. When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life. But let them also remember there are many dark days. Everything still to come is meaningless." (Ecclesiastes 11:5-8) NLT