Wednesday, April 14, 2010

A Morning Routine

Two days ago, I woke up feeling drained and tired, down and out. I wondered how the eight hours of sleep depleted my energies. Anyhoo, I did my usual morning routine. And this routine turned my day around. :)


This particular routine was integrated in my life after I exercised one afternoon three years ago. I was jogging on a treadmill. There in from of me was a TV screen playing a documentary about Moses. Of all the channels in the world, I never thought I would be interested to watch such a nerdy show. So anyway the host was saying that during Moses’ time, the Israelites were merely relying on manna from heaven for their daily bread. The manna didn’t come at night. They rained down in the mornings. For 40 years, the Israelites had to wake up early, gather food good enough for the day, and prepare for work after. Too bad if you were a ‘night' person, huh?


I realized that although we do not need to gather manna at the present era since everything is conveniently distributed or networked (with all the 7/11, ministop, SMs in the world), we still have to allot a manna-gathering time. And you know what kind of manna? Spiritual manna. Spiritual food. Sometimes spiritual manna can be more powerful than 40days worth of food combined.


Back to the story. That morning, I read the book of Ezra. It is right after the books of the Kings and the Chronicles where kings have led Israelites to worship idols. The last Chronicle ended tragically. Babylon captured the king and everyone was taken into exile. No one was left in the supposedly ‘promise land.’ But then in the book of Ezra, God moved the heart of a Persian King. This king helped bring the people back to Israel and rebuild God’s temple.


I realized no matter how sinful, how broken or how far we’ve gone, He can lead us back to the promise land. Sometimes all it takes is for God to “move a heart.” Trust that God works His way, His time. What a wonderful trait my Father has. :)


After reading, I looked out the window, inhaled some fresh air, and thanked God that He is the same before, today and forever. If He was faithful before, He is still faithful today.

Let’s sing along with the people in Ezra 3: "He is good; His love to Israel endures forever."


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