This week I want to take a deeper look at seeking God early. I want to make a disclaimer here that the word early does not necessarily mean the same thing for every person. For some early might mean 4 AM but for others it may mean 9 AM or even later. Learning to seek God early means to seek Him before your day begins. Maybe it’s after a cup of coffee, after you get your kids ready for school, or after breakfast. Early does not mean the first thing you do but it does mean before you start your day. Before you go to work, before you go to school, or before you start your daily to do list, you need to seek God. This week I want to focus on some of the benefits of seeking God early and how it can affect our daily walk of life.
Our life is a constant battle of good and evil. As I am writing this, the devil is plotting his next attack against me. I must be prepared to defend myself and fight back. In Ephesians 6, Paul describes the armor of God. The last piece of armor mentioned is the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. This piece of the armor of God is unique because it is the only item mentioned that’s primary purpose is for attack or offense. The other pieces of armor are used for defense. Wearing the armor of God helps us defend ourselves against the devils attacks, but equipping the sword of the spirit allows us to attack back.
Jesus demonstrates how to use the sword of the spirit for us in Matthew 4. Matthew 4 tells of the temptation of Jesus. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and the devil would approach him with various temptations. Jesus fasted for 40 days and the devil came tempting Him with food. In verse 3 the devil says: “If you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” And Jesus responded by quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 “People do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” So then Satan tries again, this time showing his knowledge of scripture by quoting Psalm 91:11-12, telling Jesus to throw himself off a cliff for “He will order His angels to protect you… They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.” But Jesus once again refutes him by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16 saying: “It is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'” Once again defeated, Satan reloads and takes one more shot at Jesus. He took Jesus to a high mountain looking over all of the kingdoms of the world and told Him that he would give Him all of them if He would just bow down and worship him. And Jesus attacked back by quoting Deuteronomy 6:13 which says, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” Then the devil, being defeated, left and Angels came to attend to Jesus.
With every attack the devil attempted Jesus attacked back and defeated him by using His sword, scripture. It is vital to read and know the word of God because it is our form of attack against Satan. As demonstrated in Matthew 4, Satan knows scripture and knows how to twist the words in a way that seems right. Unless we know the scripture, and the true words of God, we will fall right into the Devils traps. Our sword must be sharp and ready for battle.
This is why we should seek God early through His word. When we wake up every morning the battle is on. We are in a war zone between good and evil. Do not go in to battle with a dull sword or without knowing how to use it. A sword, like other weapons, is dangerous when used improperly. When incorrectly used our sword can cause self harm. And without a sharp sword our attacks will be ineffective. Get into God’s word early and sharpen your sword. Follow Jesus’ example in Matthew 4 to learn how to use your sword. Satan is waiting to attack and we must be ready to yield our sword and fight back!