man so I'm gonna preach a sermon tonight titled early risers early risers and
it's as the title would indicate it's about getting up early about getting up
early in the morning and this is something you probably heard that the
world has a philosophy about and you might even heard other preachers talk
about this I know I have and it did surprise me when I actually studied this
out and started to look at how often the Bible actually addresses the subject and
tells us about people who woke up early in the morning and you'll see this
throughout Scripture that some of the greatest leaders that we see in Scripture
are men that rose up early in the morning and we're gonna if we're gonna
go we're gonna come back to where you are there but we're gonna start actually
tonight so keep something there but go back to Genesis chapter 21 the first
person we're gonna look at is Abraham he was one of the first guys that we see in
Scripture where the Bible talks about how early he got up in the morning so I
believe it's an important subject mainly because of the fact that you know we're
coming into the new year people are making a lot of resolutions hopefully
they are you know not just about the things that they're not going to do
anymore but also just as importantly about the things they're gonna start
doing this year and one of the things that most people resolve to do this time
of year if you're a Christian if you go to church if you love the Lord if people
start to make resolutions about their Bible reading they're either going to
continue with the reading in some fashion if they haven't been reading
they're gonna start they're gonna improve on their reading and I believe
that you know getting up early is something that's gonna help you in that
area or maybe you have some other goal that you might involve your health or
something like that you know getting up early in the morning it's gonna help you
achieve some of these goals you know if you get into the whole you know
productivity genre of self-help books and YouTube videos and things like that
you know that talks a lot about this a lot of people who are you know
productivity oriented they always mention the fact that you know getting
up early is something that's very important you can get a lot done early
in the morning you know it's and it's no coincidence that you see this in the
scripture as well that throughout the scripture you see that some of God's
most powerful leaders some of the greatest leaders are men that rose up
early in the morning so I want to preach early risers tonight and I believe that
this again is important because this is one resolution that's going to help you
accomplish other ones and the first example we're going to look at is
Abraham it says in Genesis 19 year in 21 that Abraham got get up early in the
morning to the place where he stood before the Lord he got up early in the
morning but he didn't just get up you know and rub his eyes and take in you
know the news media and make himself a cup of coffee and stumble around for an
hour and a half broadly trying to get you know get the melatonin out of his
system you know he got up early in the morning to the place where he stood
before the Lord you know that's something that you know you have to have
a purpose behind getting up there has to be something driving you to get you up
in the morning you know if you're just just getting up early in the morning in
and of itself is not going to be enough motivation for people because you know
the pillow is warm and soft and the bed is very inviting especially when it's
early in the morning you have to have a purpose and Abraham here he had a very
good purpose didn't he he got up early to get to the place where he stood
before the Lord you know that's something we can apply to our own
selves you know why should I get up early well you should get up early to
get alone with the Lord get along with God you know parents can appreciate
this a lot especially parents of young children you know I know in my house and
this is no fault the children this is just life you know I'm glad that they're
this way but they they wake up a little bit on the early side you know we put
them to bed early you know that's that's part of the equation here we'll get to
that I'm gonna edit myself but they go to bed early so as a result they get up
early you know and they've got things that they got to do but look if we're
not if we haven't gotten the Bible if we hadn't had our quiet time with the Lord
by 7 8 a.m. you're not getting it you're not gonna get it again until later in
the evening and by then you're probably too tired to you want to go to bed right
so this is something that'll help parents to if you get up early and you
want to have some time to stand in the place before the Lord you know that's a
good time to do it if you have kids it's early in the morning before everybody
else gets up and everybody else has their needs everybody else has to have
breakfast made and take their baths and get their schooling going and get dressed
and all the things that come with you know being a parent you know or if
you're not a parent or if you're somebody who works outside the home
before you have to go out and get busy in the day you know you should be
getting up early to get with the Lord you know because a lot of times if you
don't do that take care of that first thing in the morning it just goes by the
wayside and it doesn't get done they say I'll take care of it when I get home you
know but by the time you get home after a long day long day's work and there's
still things I need to get it need to get done you know a lot of times it just
goes undone that time that the Lord never happens so Abraham he got up early
but he didn't just get up early without purpose he got up early to do what to
get with God okay now he also got up to do something hard and I'm gonna kind of
take a little bit of Liberty here with this I'll just go with the I'm making
application all right but if you remember in Genesis 21 that's where
Sarah sees Hagar mocking
mock and she just yet she uh mocks them Isaac excuse me Sarah's son right and
she and she wants to kick out Hagar right with Ishmael right and and the
thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight is what it says in verse 11 he
sees this taking place and he sees that well we'll just read it there verse 10
and wherefore she said unto Abraham cast out this bond woman and her son for the
son of this bond woman shall not be heir with my son even with Isaac so Sarah
sees Hagar mocking and she says you know what Abraham kick him out get him
out of here I mean we've got our son now we don't need them around and the thing
was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son and God said unto
Abraham let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad because of and
because of the bond woman and all that Sarah said unto thee hearken unto her
voice for an Isaac shall thy seed be called and I also have thy son of the
bond woman I make nation because he is thy seed and Abraham rose up early in
the morning and took bread and a bottle of water and gave it to him to Hagar
putting it on her shoulder with the child and sent her away and she departed
and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba so Abraham got up early in the
morning and what did he do he did something hard right look he had said
was very grievous unto him this isn't something that he wanted to do yet he
got up early to do something he didn't want to do and obviously there's a lot
more of the story I'm kind of using this as a springboard to make the
application that you know if you want to be productive throughout your day get up
early in the morning do something you don't want to do aren't you glad you
came to church tonight I'm getting up and tell you hey you not only should get
up early you should also get up and do something you don't want to do you know
I heard somebody say that a while recently within the last year or so and
I said you know what that's a good advice and I started doing that I'd get
up now was it first thing in the morning and it like you know wake up
first thing in the morning and you know run up and down the street or something
but it's like you know in my morning routine I worked in something hard that
I didn't want to do okay it's exercise but man as soon as I got the habit of
doing that I felt so much better throughout the day you know and I would
encourage you to do something similar you know as people are hopefully
thinking about their routines and the things that they do and in light of the
new year you know you should work that in there do something hard now look the
Bible reading might cover that for you you might say I'm not excited about
reading the Bible I'm not it's not something I want to do you know well the
more you read it the more you want to read it I can tell you that much but if
that's hard enough for you great well you know maybe you should add that in
there get up early in the morning and get something done go to Genesis 22
excuse me get up early in the morning and do something hard get up early to
get some work done get some work done you know this is something that will
profit you in life and this is something that even the world understands we'll
see that in a minute that there's profit to getting up early to get something
done it says in Genesis 22 verse 3 and Abraham rose up early in the morning you
see it again but he's talking about something that a man of God did he's
giving us a specific detail that he rose up early in the morning and saddled his
ass and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son and claimed the
wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went under the place of which God
had told him had told him so he gets up and he starts chopping wood you know
he's getting done what needs to be done as we know the story here he's going to
offer Isaac upon the altar you know but he's he's what he's doing the work of
God he's getting up and saddling an ass he's chopping wood he's getting things
together look you need to get up learn to get up early in the morning to get to
work you know this would be something that would probably apply to younger
people you know a lot of times younger people they just want to sleep in how
do you know because I was your age once I know what it's like you want to just
sleep in till 9 10 yeah even 11 o'clock and just sleep all day right now
obviously different seasons in your life you need more sleep we'll talk about how
to accomplish that here in a minute but you know you need to learn to get up
early in the morning because that's when people go to work you ever notice that
you know between the hours of like 7 and 9 it's hard to get places in traffic
because everyone's going to work you know and they didn't wake up in the car
they woke up and got ready and then got in the car at 7 a.m. or whatever they
got up early so this is something we all need to learn to do to wake up to get
some work done wake up to do something hard make your day a productive day wake
up and get with God first thing in the morning that's what Jacob did he got up
early and he acknowledged the Lord Moses is another one where the Bible tells us
that he got up to do the work of the Lord if you would go to Exodus chapter
8 Exodus chapter 8 Exodus chapter 8 the Bible reads in Exodus 24 and Moses wrote
all the words of the Lord and rose up early in the morning and built in an
altar under the hill and 12 pillars according the tribes of Israel 12 tribes
of Israel say oh I don't want to get up mom dad let me sleep in I say no you
got to get up I know it's Saturday you got a you know I don't think really
mow lawns here right you got a rake the rock yard you got to go out and do this
chore do that chore all right I want to get you know Moses got up and he cued
out 12 pillars and built an altar you know this is what's gonna make you
successful in life and in the Christian life is if you're someone who learns up
to get up early in the morning and get after it and we'll see here that even
the world even the world understands this even they get this concept and
it's all throughout Scripture I'm just gonna scratch the surface tonight
Exodus chapter 8 where you are in verse 20 and the Lord said unto Moses rise up
early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh he didn't say go wake Pharaoh up
and get him out of bed and go stand before him you know what that tells me
that Pharaoh was already up and Pharaoh you know is king of Egypt which is a
picture of the world so even Pharaoh the king you know living in a lap of luxury
has enough sense he's the type of person understands that there's a prophet and
getting up early even the world understands this I mean you go up you
go google this and on the benefits of getting up early you're gonna find all
the motivational speakers you know the ex-navy seal guy that's like you need to
get up at 430 every single morning you know and we sleeping in is for the week
you can sleep when you're dead and all this stuff right it's out there what I'm
saying is that even the world understands that there's profit to
getting up early and it's not the nothing new into the Sun it's something
that God already understood and we see great men of God leaders people who are
successful in their life getting up early in the morning not being lazy
people who just lie around and just get around to things when they feel like it
if you would go over to go over to Joshua chapter 3 Joshua chapter number
3 see why I know I want it I don't you know what maybe you're somebody who
already does get up in the morning maybe you're like I don't need this sermon I
already do this you know I'm already I get up every single morning you know
well good on you but here's the thing I don't want you to burn out on that
either because you know Moses you know I'm kind of making the application here
it says in Exodus 34 that he hewed two tables stones like unto the first and
Moses rose up early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai as the Lord had
command him and took in his hand the two tables of stone he did that twice you
know you should get in the routine of doing the same thing you should have a
morning routine that's gonna make you a more productive person I know that's
something that I need in my life I'm the type of person who needs a rail to run
on you know I I'm not somebody who can just kind of take it you know day by day
whatever I'll just see what happens tomorrow I kind of need to know day by
day what I'm doing ahead of time you know and that's why on my phone I have a
morning routine on the calendar I have a checklist I have these things I'm gonna
get up and look it's not it's not different every day every day it's the
same thing every day it's get up at this time do XYZ get up at this time do XYZ
you know that's what I see Moses doing you know he gets up again you know and
he has to make the same two tables of stone he's got to go up the same mountain
get up early and do the same thing even if it's hard that'll help you where I
had to go Joshua chapter 3 Joshua another great leader writing he's he's
the Moses is protege the one who followed in his footsteps verse 1 the
first things we learn about Joshua is that verse 1 and Joshua rose early in
the morning and they removed from Shittim and came to Jordan he had all
the children Israel and lodged there before they passed over and you know
what I'm not gonna belabor the point but it comes up in Joshua chapter 6 Joshua
chapter 7 Joshua chapter 8 that he rose up in the early in the morning that he
rose up early in the morning that he rose up early in the morning it's
something he just keeps repeating about him you know and here's the thing you
know it's cotton you say well what's what's the point exactly what is the
point of saying that over and over again of reminding us that Moses got up early
that Abraham got up early that Joshua got up early it's an unnecessary detail
in the story when you think about it I mean is it does it change the narrative
does it change anything in the plot of the scripture does it change anything
about when we know what time they got up it could have just as easily said you
know Moses hewed up two tables of stone and went up the mountain but it takes a
time to tell us he got up early in the morning to do it and it tells us over
and over and over again that these men of God are getting up early in the
morning what that tells me is that there's value in getting up early in the
morning it's something that God wants us to see in the scripture because again
it's it's an unnecessary detail to these stories but it's given as an attribute
of exemplary leaders this is something that you know great men of God did you
know obviously none of us is probably going to achieve the you know stature of
Joshua or Moses you know where these other great men of God it's just not in
the cards for us but we're given these details so that we can emulate them you
know I want to be like Moses I want to be like Joshua oh really well let's set
that alarm clock let's get up early in the morning let's get with God let's do
something hard let's do it over and over and over again and we'll see how much
like Joshua and Moses you really want to be now if you would know go over to go
over to 1st Samuel 29 1st Samuel 29 because here's the thing you know if I
say get up early in the morning that's kind of an arbitrary term isn't that's
relative you know my early might not be your early right and look I know people
are on different schedules and things like that not everyone works with the
9 to 5 and can you know apply this the way I'm preaching at night but you can
still get something out of it but if I say get up early in the morning you know
what does the Bible mean by this well it's meaning that you got to get up as
it early as in before dawn like beat the Sun up kind of early all right this is
what he's saying here if you look there in 1st Samuel 17 did I had to go
there no I'm sorry I had to go to 1st Samuel 29 didn't I 29 1st Samuel 29 look
at verse 9 I was gonna turn you to all the passages where Samuel got up early
but I won't believe at the point it says in verse 9 and Akish answered and said
David I know that thou art good in my sight and as an angel of God
notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said he shall not go up
with us to battle so I'm just when he's dwelling and Phyllis with the
Philistines they're saying David's not going to go to war with us against
Israel okay verse 10 wherefore now rise up early in the morning that thy master
servants that are come with thee excuse me with thy servants that are come with
thee and as soon as you be up early in the morning and have light depart saying
get up early enough to where you have light so what he's saying here is
basically you have to get up early enough to where you have to wait for the
lights you have to wait for the Sun to come up right so he's not just saying oh
yeah get up early before noon you know I get up early you know I get up before I
get up and by 10 a.m. right that's not early friend you know most there's
people that have accomplished more by 10 a.m. than most people will do all day
there's people that have gotten a lot done by 10 a.m. because what they got up
early right because you can get a lot done especially if you need time to just
you know focus on something and not be distracted by everything that goes on
you know getting up early in the morning is a great time to do that before the
emails come in before the text messages and the phone calls and all the
distractions that come throughout the day you know you fit that in early you
can get a lot of good serious focused work in get up early and early is not a
relative term here it's meaning you know before dawn you know we're at dawn I
know dawn kind of fluctuates right but you know that's what this is the kind of
early we're talking about here not 9 a.m. what about Jesus of course he's another
great example right Jesus was somebody that got up early in the morning if you
would go to Luke 21 Luke 21 let me remind you some other people while
you're turning there Joe was another man who got up early right how about the
virtuous woman in problems 31 she's somebody that got up early and there's a
woman that got a lot done right and you know the woman that the virtuous woman
is a it's not something I think is achievable but it's a standard that
ladies out of shoot for it's something that they have to strive to be like
anyway kind of like all these other leaders okay but it says in Proverbs 31
she rise and also while it is yet night doesn't mean she's I believe it's just
talking about the fact that before the Sun has come up and give meat to her
household and a portion to her babies he's talking about the virtuous woman
as someone who gets up early and starts making food starts providing for her
house first thing is getting these things done she's getting up early she's
not I know old and lazy and laying around okay Jesus of course is another
person who got up early in the morning we see it many times throughout
scripture you're in Luke 21 but in John 8 it said in early in the morning he
came again to the temple and all the people came under me sat down and taught
them in mark 1 and in the morning rising up a great while before the day a great
while before the day not again not a relative turn he got up before the day
break a great while before he got up very early he went out and departed
into a solitary place in their parade again that's a great illustration the
fact that you know one of the best things you could do if you want to have
a real walk with God is get up early and get with God get in that solitary place
you know that's harder to do in the day and age that we live in you know we're
all living in these very close communities we're all living in these
you know metro areas where our neighbors are right there you know we got to put
the shades up or we're you know we can see their TV you know we're all right
next to each other we're all packed in like sardines it's hard to find a
solitary place isn't it but I'm telling you if you got up early you know you
would find a solitary place because it would be quiet where a lot of other
people are still in bed you know still quietly going about their morning while
the kids are still laying down you know the house is a solitary place in a sense
but that's something you can only achieve when you do what when you get up
great while before the day you know it's something you're gonna have to plan
on doing it's not something that's gonna happen by accident and look I'm
preaching this again because I believe it's important because people this is
New Year's and people are second goals this is something that will help you keep
your New Year's resolutions getting up early and getting these resolutions
taken care of we're heading to Luke 21 says in verse 38 and all the people came
early the morning to him in the temple for to hear him so it wasn't just Jesus
that got up early but it's the people that wanted to be with him they also had
to get up early and get where he was you want to get with God you want to get up
early you got to get up early get where he is no so these are just several
examples throughout scripture that we see of men of God Jesus himself the
virtuous woman there's others I couldn't have taken the time to turn to of people
that got up early God with the Lord did something hard okay so hopefully that's
enough to convince you hopefully we could you know it'd be nice if we could
just close in prayer right now and that'd be enough okay but I don't want
to just get up and hammer this and say you need to get up early bless God and
if you don't you know you're wicked or something you know I want to motivate
you know I want to give you some other reasons inspire you to get up early you
know if such a thing as possible right so let me talk a little bit about the
benefits of being an early riser not only is it a model that we see in
scripture of great leaders great men of God great women of God getting up early
but it's also something that will benefit you there are benefits okay one
you'll get put to work go over to Matthew chapter 20 Matthew chapter 20
you know the guy who's lazy he gets up late you know it's scrambling to get to
work on time you know he's he's waking up he's got to be to work in ten minutes
you know he's pulling his boots on he's running out in the car he hasn't had
time to eat or make you know he's just you know put on still in yesterday's
clothes or whatever you know that's not the guy that's gonna get the promotion
at work that's not the guy that's gonna keep the job when times get tough the
guys out looking for a job they call your former employer well one of the
things they're gonna ask is what was his what was his attendance like oh you know
he was he was always showing up by ten fifteen minutes late you know you're
less likely to get hired for somebody who can't get up on time okay you'll get
put to work look at Matthew chapter 20 verse 1 for the king of heaven is like
unto a man that is an householder which went out early in the morning to hire
labors and do his vineyard right now you could make the argument from that that
that from that parable if you know what that he went back at every hour after
that hired guys throughout the day right but those were other guys okay you want
to be these guys right that show up and you want to be those guys that get hired
first right well you know what what are they what is the employer looking for
people he wants people that can get to work early okay the Bible says in
Proverbs 26 actually know what go to Proverbs 26 go to problems we're gonna
look at a few the problems here that you know sleeping in is something that lazy
people do and something a lazy people do now look I'm not saying if every once in
a while you know you have a day off you're on your vacation you were up
super late the other night you know these are rare occasions that you have
to you know you have to sleep in I'm not calling you lazy but I am saying this if
you know you're just sleeping ever in every morning not getting up not getting
after it you know you're lazy I don't tell you that's something that lazy
people do it says in Proverbs are you 26 Proverbs 26 look at verse 14 as the door
turneth upon its hinges so does the slothful upon its bed you know I can
think of times in my life where I've emulated that problem right there as a
young person you know as a teenager being somebody who just turns upon its
bed like a door upon its hinges what's it talking about here he's got again you
know like this morning you got to think about these problems the picture that
it's painting here think about how a door just turns on hinges what does it
do it just goes back and forth back and forth right you know when you're a
person who doesn't get up early you know that's what you end up doing you ever
notice if you know after you kind of when you wake up kind of early in the
morning and you kind of have that moment of decision right it's like I either
have to get up or I'm gonna lay here for another hour or two right but you ever
notice if you decide to lay there it's not the best sleep the lights coming
through the window you can hear noise of the other people that aren't like you
know you can hear the neighbors car starting you know whatever everything
else that's going on around you it's not the best sleep what do you do you just
end up pausing and turning right because when you get good sleep you know I want
to preach a whole another sermon just on sleep eventually but when you're
sleeping deeply you don't move you go into like a paralysis like deep REM
sleep rapid eye movement sleep you basically I mean that's how I test the
kids when they're when they sleep in bed with us when they're when they're
nursing still you know if you want to get out of bed without waking them up
you lift up their little arm and drop it if it just goes like this like that's
how you know they're out but I think if you lift it up they go they're awake
they're not deep asleep right that's and then you have to like do the ninja move
out of the bed you're gonna like crawl out right roll across the floor without
making any noise well that's I'm saying when you're someone who's just laying in
bed not getting up well I just need I need another hour or two that hour or
two is only gonna make you more tired we'll see that here in a minute it's
gonna cast you into even deeper sleep it's gonna make you more of a slugger
you're just gonna toss to and fro in your bed you know what's the point just
get up don't be this don't don't do be a slothful person who turns back and forth
on their bed get up go to Proverbs chapter 6 Proverbs chapter 6 look people
who just want to sleep in they don't get everything done they should get
done I mean they might be able to go out and burn a living they might be able to
go out and bring home the bacon you know and pay their bills but you could still
end up being a spiritual slugger you could still end up being the spiritually
poor if you don't get up early it says in Proverbs chapter 6 verse 6 go to the
ant now slugger consider her ways and be wise which having no guide overseer
ruler provided for me in the summer and gather at her food in the harvest how
long without sleep old sluggard and when without rise out thy sleep yet a
little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands to sleep soul shall
thy poverty come as one that travaileth and they want as an armed man saying
look if you're gonna be the person who just sleeps in doesn't get up you know
what you're gonna end up poor because you're not gonna hold down a job you're
not gonna get the promotion you're not gonna get hired now look some people can
still be you know get up get this done you know go out make a living but what
about this apply this spiritually if we're not getting up and getting in our
Bibles we're not getting up and you know reading and praying and meditating on
the Word of God I'm not saying you have to get up and spend three hours reading
the Bible but if you can't even get your lazy carcass out of bed to read for 15
minutes before you start your day you know what your spiritual of want is
gonna come as an armed man there's gonna become a day when someone's gonna say
need an answer out of the Word of God you're gonna I don't know what the
Bible says about that something's gonna happen in your life you're not gonna
know how to handle it because you're spiritually poor because you've been
lazy spiritually you've been a spiritual slugger by just you know sleeping in
not getting up not making it a priority okay the Bible says go to Proverbs
chapter 20 Proverbs chapter 20 it says in Proverbs 19 verse 15 slothfulness
cast it into a deep sleep now that seems counterintuitive doesn't it
slothfulness cast it into a deep sleep you'd think the sloth would have more
energy than anybody he hasn't done anything he's just laying around they're
the laziest people there are that's why you know I've heard this said several
times I agree with it you want to get something done give to somebody who's
already busy because they'll find a way to squeeze it in the people that have
nothing going on or usually people you don't want to ask to do anything because
they're just because slothfulness cast it into a deep sleep don't get it done
an idle soul shall suffer hunger you know apply that spiritually Bible says
in Proverbs 20 verse 13 love not sleep lest thou come to poverty do you see how
important that getting up early is do you see how important it is to not be a
slugger to not love sleep not to be slothful not to turn on your bed but to
actually get up and get to work and get something done lest thou come to poverty
open thine eyes and thou shalt be satisfied with bread so these are some
of the benefits of getting up early it's gonna keep you out of the poor house
physically and spiritually you know it's gonna put bread on the table okay there's
gonna be less distractions you're gonna be able to get more done early in the
morning better quality work it's gonna help you accomplish important tasks now
here's the one no one wants to hear about it's gonna help you with better
health okay better help because think about it if you got up early in the
morning and you had time to go for a 20 to 30 minute walk that's gonna help you
help doesn't it I mean 20 30 minutes walking every day I mean you're gonna be
healthier the guy that never walks right and look if you've ever tracked
your steps you know what I'm talking about and I know that when I'm going
through times where I look at my trap counter I go my pedometer or whatever
and like man I'm feeling I'm like I got to do something about that right what
do you get done and it reads 600 steps for the day that's not very many steps
box you got up you went to the fridge a couple times you use the bathroom and
look if you have an office job you know if you're somebody who sits all day this
is a real problem you know I remember I worked at the city up in Phoenix at the
Convention Center there was a big push for people they would give you a little
pedometer to put on your on your on your foot and they had competitions who can
ever get X amount of steps you know because look if you're just sitting all
day eight hours go by it's easy to get 600 steps in and that's it and the days
where I've shot for seven to ten thousand steps like you find yourself
like I want to hit that goal you go for that extra walk you know you go for 20
minute walk and go for 30 minute walk well when can you do that when you get
up early you know and here's the thing we live in a real busy world right we
live it where we have a lot of demands on our time here's something that's
gonna help you it's the multitask I mean think about if you could get up early go
for the walk and listen to your Bible I mean now you're getting up early you're
developing that character you're getting in that good habit you're out walking
you're really in the morning and getting that fresh air you're breaking a sweat
you're getting some exercise in and you're spiritually growing because
you're listening to the Word of God right so you can do all these things
it's gonna help you walk you can get up early you can exercise if that's your
thing and then what about this how about you can get a better breakfast in these
are just practical things you know I don't I could just get up and just tell
you the Bible says so and it has all these examples and leave it at that but
you know let me let me you know bring it bring it home a little bit for you okay
you get up early you know you could actually make a nutritious breakfast you
could have the oatmeal with the raw honey the local raw honey right I got a
honey guy I could hook you up right here at the ace right brother right I'm
telling you true love honey it's grown it's right up made up right here in
Rana it's great it's like $12 a pint or whatever it's a little pricey but help
you with your allergies right put some flaxseed in it and you got a good
breakfast and look if you're married you're gonna make it but you know maybe
you're not married you know maybe or maybe you got to cook for yourself you
know getting up early and taking 20 to 30 minutes to actually scramble some
organic eggs yourself and putting some cheese on it some peppers and having a
piece of toast and some milk or whatever and having a nutritious breakfast is
gonna be a whole lot better for you than just running out the door and trying to
squeeze through McDonald's drive-through every morning or Taco Bell they serve
breakfast down you know that I drove by the sign that I drove by their day and
notice the sign open for breakfast I'm like open for breakfast I don't know
exists in Tucson let alone be open for breakfast but man I mean if you got up
early you could make a better breakfast look these are the benefits of getting
up early you could benefit spiritually you could benefit financially you could
benefit physically in your health say well you convinced me brother Corbin I
want to start getting up early well let me talk a little bit about at the end
here about how to get up early okay because it takes a whole lot more than
just you know being motivated you know it takes a lot of discipline you have to
get in a habit especially if you're out of the habit of doing it okay now
here's just a go to Ecclesiastes chapter 5 Ecclesiastes chapter 5 if you want to
get up early here let me just break it just break get to pull the band-aid off
you have to go to bed early you have to go to bed early if you want to get up
early and and and look I know some people say I'm a night owl I'm not a
morning person you know I've thought the same way but I'm convinced that neither
of those people exist you say I'm just I'm just genetically disposed to be a
night owl I don't I don't believe that I don't think people just get in habits
they just they develop routines and that's it because I've never met a
morning person who's like actually a morning person I mean my wife you know I
don't like to talk about her pulpit too much you know but she would describe
herself as a morning person at least she has and she's you know generally she's
always in a good mood right and and in the morning is no exception but it's not
like she's this bubbly you know butterfly just in the morning but she's
up early you know I don't know what this morning person is I've never met this
person is just this gregarious just energetic just at 5 a.m. just hi how you
doing nobody's like that okay there is no such thing as morning people night
owls I don't I don't buy that and I've even I've even heard people who've done
sleep studies and you know clinical studies and things like that there's
there's too many variables to come to that conclusion of people's lives to say
that we studied X amount of people for X amount of years and determined that some
people should go to bed at 11 and get up at 8 some people should go to bed at 9
and get up at whatever I just think people get in routines people have
certain habits certain things that they do that affect the way they sleep in
their sleep patterns okay that's I'm kind of getting off track here but you
know that is pretty much the number one tip to getting up early is go to bed
early now you see why I'm preaching this tonight okay and not you know two days
before New Year's Eve right that's because that's that's the irony of
ironies right there people make all these resolutions from the new year say
I'm gonna get up early and read my Bible I'm gonna be super productive and then
they stay up to like midnight one two o'clock on December 31st and then
they're waking up at night that's how you're starting your new year with your
resolutions by staying up super late and getting up super late now look do
whatever you want I don't care I'm kind of over it to be honest but you know
this is this is this is the practical thing if you really want to do this you
gotta go to bed early okay and look what's early nine o'clock whoa that's
not that early folks nine is not early you think nine is early then you
probably classify yourself as a night owl it's not you know that's not early
because you got to get about eight hours no I find that I'm about a seven and a
half to seven hour person I'll just naturally sleep that long so if I go to
bed about nine I find myself getting up about six thirty you know is that right
no I get up around 435 somewhere in there if I go to bed about night right
do the math I've been up late so I can't my mind's I'm all foggy right but that's
but what am I getting at to get up early you gotta go better and nine is not
early okay it's not can I get a name here's another tip to get up early how
to be an early riser work hard during the day work hard you know I'm not I'm
getting ahead of myself a little bit but there's a chemical that your body makes
that's called and Dennison and part of what it does is it it helps you go to
sleep and regulates when you stay up and when you go to bed when you feel sleepy
when you feel alert and one of the things that produces it is when you use
your brain when you're doing a lot of thinking you're doing a lot of activity
it the and Dennison levels actually go up throughout the day to actually make
you more sleepy so look if you're not doing anything during the day you know
if you're just laying around the house scrolling through YouTube watching TV
not using your brain not thinking not doing any kind of work no wonder you
can't fall asleep later you're up till you know twelve one two o'clock in the
morning because you haven't done anything during the day okay look there
at Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verse 12 the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 5 12 the
sleep of a laboring man is sweet whether he little or much what is it that puts
him to sleep it's not the high-carb meal that he had it's not the big bowl of
spaghetti it's the fact that he was laboring that baby you know you put in a
hard day's work you're not gonna have any time any any trouble falling asleep
men I know there's some of you guys that know what I'm talking about you
work hard and you're out there in the heat and you're sweating and you're
walking you know you're working hard you probably go home and and I know when I
worked a much more physical job there were days where it was just like I went
home and I was on the couch and I fell asleep for like at least an hour my wife
would have to wake me up and say it's dinner time and then it was off the bed
after that I mean sleep was real easy obviously the job I have now you know on
staff here it's a lot more cerebral right it's a lot less physical right
it's still demanding but you know I have to work hard to actually get that
physical exertion in to be tired that's another tip for you guys that are you
know sitting in an office sitting at a desk you know you need to get some
labor and you got to get some exercise if you're having a hard time sleeping
you know you need to get that walking you need to hit the gym you need to do
something physical to help you know yourself fall asleep but again I spoke
earlier I go to Psalms 127 mention to go a minute ago that you know the real key
is to go to better go to bed early and it's it's the craziest thing like what's
so bad about one bed now that now the children that in the room the children
the room could probably tell you right all the kids it's like it's like you
have to have these hostage negotiations with them it's like you have to convince
them to stay in there right you have to you have to bargain with them or you
know there's other means to deal with it too but you know we scratch our heads I
would love for somebody to come to me at seven eight o'clock and say you need to
go to bed stop what you're doing right now and go to bed go take a nap you know
I wish somebody come to me at two or three in the afternoon and say you're
gonna take a nap right now if I have to I mean what's so bad about going to bed
sleep is great right look at it Psalms 127 verse 1 except the Lord build the
house they labor in vain that building except the Lord keep the city the
watchman walketh but in vain waketh but in vain it is vain for you to rise up
early to sit up late to eat the bread of sorrows for so he giveth his beloved
sleep you say aha that's brother Corbin it says right there it's vain to rise up
early yeah no it says it's vain to rise up early to sit up late and eat the bed
of sorrow it's vain to do all three of these things to just sit there and
afflict yourself right because ultimately you know it's of the Lord
whether or not we're kept safe you know it's up to God and God's not this cruel
past master he'll protect us you know right they'll protect us you know the
watchman waken but in vain you know God ultimately is in control so there's no
point us rising up early staying up late because it's all in God's hand and God's
not cruel the Bible says that he giveth his beloved sleep you know sleep is
something that God gives to us now when you think about us here I was listening
to somebody talk about this today I'll share with you just cuz I think it's a
funny anecdote sleep is one of the just most underrated things it's it's the
most misunderstood thing it's one of those things that we just take for
granted sleeping and yet sleep is probably one of the most important
things for our health I mean it's right up there with nutrition and exercise is
getting a full night's rest but we live in a society you know with the advent of
caffeine and indoor lighting you know and everything else to keep us
distracted where we're sleep is something that we just we do it because
we have to right but sleep is such a powerful thing I mean think about this
what if you had this is the analogy I heard I love it what if what if you had
a child right and you were at the hospital and the doctor came to you and
said hey the child is perfectly healthy they're fine there's nothing wrong with
them however you know every day a certain time they're just gonna go into
a couple into a coma for about eight hours they're gonna be completely
unresponsive they're not gonna communicate their eyes are gonna be
closed they're gonna go completely limp would you be a little startled by that
that's what we all do it's a no doctor what's wrong with them well we all do
that I mean think about it we all just go to sleep that's the exact same thing
we just kind of forget about that whole thing that whole part of our life where
we just slip into this coma and it's like oh it's just something that happens
so there's a lot going on physiologically that we need to benefit
from from sleep it's something that God gives us you know God gives his beloved
sleep it's not something that we should be concerned about now go back to where
you were in first Thessalonians chapter 5 first Thessalonians chapter 5 I'm just
trying to give you some benefits about sleeping about getting up early right
being an early riser we saw all the all the fact the fact that all the great men
of God the scripture did it that people that got up early got things done they
had a purpose behind what they did when they got up early they got along with
the Lord we saw that not getting up early being somebody just wants to
sleep in late and not be an early riser something that lazy people do okay so
now we need to talk about the benefits or the actually we're talking about the
benefits we're talking about how to accomplish that right you know working
hard go to bed early here's the one you're really not gonna like quit or
limit caffeine yes I'm gonna preach it all right quit or limit your caffeine
intake now notice what I gave you two options there coffee drinkers addicts
dependents I'm one of you I've been I've been on things man after my 90 days I
just been like bring it on I'm fixing to get back on the on the wagon and no
caffeine wagon because I you know I'll talk a little bit about my experience I
don't want to get all preachy about it and although I am preaching but I gave
you two options it was quit or at the very least limit your caffeine at least
limit your caffeine because caffeine is the it's the second highest sold
commodity behind oil there's a lot of money in billions of dollars in coffee
and caffeine and caffeine is a powerful psychoactive drug it affects your brain
two powerful ways now is it the most you know people and I have heard people go
to extremes and say oh no Christian should drink coffee because it's a drug
look I'm not gonna say that you know it doesn't make you less sober doesn't make
you you know you say I'm a coffee addict yeah but you're gonna talk you're hooked
on heroin it's not like you're a coke head or something like that it's like
it's not meth it's not crack look if I can give it up anybody I mean it doesn't
take a whole lot of willpower to take a break from caffeine yeah you gotta go
through some withdrawals but it's not like it's not you can't you can't
equate that with somebody trying to get off heroin okay it's not anything like
that okay so that's why I don't think caffeine is like the worst thing in the
world where it's sinful to take it okay actually caffeine has a lot of benefits
do there's a lot of things that are good and I don't want to go on and on but
this will help you if you want to get a good night's rest and get up early to
start at the very least limiting your caffeine intake you know and I
challenged people with this and they've taken me up on it and they've come back
to me and said you're right and it was people who said oh caffeine doesn't
affect me I can drink a whole pot before bed and it won't keep me up I'm thinking
not so right but that was challenging and saying well why don't you just
limit your caffeine intake to note one cup a day and nothing after 12 o'clock
or nothing after 9 o'clock in the morning and people that did that will
come back and say man I fell asleep so much easier I slept so much deep more
deeply I slept through the whole night they didn't get up it really affects you
because caffeine has a half-life in your system so if you drink like 240
milligrams of caffeine which is what's in a typical cup of coffee I believe you
know around there that's kind of on the high end you know if you drink that you
know and then from five to seven hours later that half of that caffeine is
still in your system so if you drink a cup of coffee at 2 in the afternoon you
know you're feeling groggy in the afternoon and you slam 240 milligrams of
caffeine to perk yourself back up you know anywhere from 7 to 9 o'clock when
people are supposed to you know getting our winding down for the night you still
have you know 120 milligrams of caffeine coursing through your veins you know and
then and then five to seven hours later you know when it's like deep into the
night two three o'clock at night you still have 70 milligrams which is
obviously quite a bit less but then you wake up in the morning you know and your
body's just gotten the caffeine from two and a half afternoon off out of its
system and you're ready for your morning cup and start all again that's how that
cycle starts right and people get caught in dependency on caffeine and look you'll
never know and I've heard this said I took this challenge and I found it be
true you'll never know how addicted to caffeine you really are so you try to
quit it for 90 days it'll blow your mind that first week how much better your
sleep not just the withdrawals but how much sleep you are missing out on good
quality sleep too so this you know this is not something this is my opinion this
is something I'm throwing out there this isn't your incident if you drink
caffeine past noon or whatever but if you're trying to get up early you're
trying to get a good night's rest I would challenge you to quit or at the
very least cut it down and if you are gonna go if you're gonna quit don't go
cold turkey that's that is some misery right there that's what I did and it was
like I was floored for like two or three days and it was not fun let me just
remind you of lots of things about caffeine or let me just get out my chest
all right I know I've already been preaching to some of you outside the
pulpit about this but caffeine is considered an and a seat and and a scene
blocker okay and dead the scene excuse me it comes into play by similarly
attaching itself to the same receptor receptors that adenosine would normally
latch onto so in your brain okay in your in your in your brain cells or
neurologically there's these receptors that this chemical that your body
produces naturally and then to see latches onto and I talked about earlier
and then the scene is what regulates your sleep so as you're working
throughout the day your adenosine levels go up and then begin to latch on these
receptors in your brain so that by the end of the day you feel tired and you go
to sleep okay melatonin is different that's something that's secreted while
you're asleep okay and Dennis thing is what puts you to sleep and also wakes
you up because throughout the night that you know the end of the adenosine that's
built up throughout the day the only way to get rid of it is to go to sleep it's
all it will be in your system there's no way to get rid of it has to attach to
those receptors and go through your system so as you sleep and those
adenosine receptors have attached then throughout the night they dissipate they
get back down and you become more alert and we wake up so that's the role that
adenosine plays in your system well caffeine is so similar it's a similar
you know compound as adenosine that it latches on to the same receptors so when
you drink caffeine in the form of coffee or soda or whatever you know what's
actually going on it's not it's not just that the drug is perking you up it's
blocking adenosine is what's happening it's preventing from those you know
sleep hormones from attaching and putting you to sleep that's the perk
okay that's the what's you know keeping you awake but here's the thing has that
adenosine not anywhere it's still there it's just building up and building up
and building up that's why eventually it doesn't matter how much caffeine you
take you're going to sleep you know I remember when I first flew down here and
I was working two jobs I was working 70 hours a week as a apprentice locksmith
and then going immediately at five o'clock in the afternoon and working to
one or two o'clock and I delivered pizza I want to I was just like going crazy
and trying to keep myself awake on the road by just slamming you know energy
drinks and I remember one night I drank like I got the month the Java monsters
who knows I'm talking about it's just like basically a milkshake you know
there's no carbonation so you can just guzzle the whole can I don't
recommend it but I was you know I was really tired I was burned out and I
slammed two of those things and I went home after the end of my ship I signed
it like 10 11 o'clock at night to get to my ship I was at home at 2 o'clock and I
fell right asleep after striking two monster energy drinks because then that's
what I realized like sometimes the only thing that's gonna recharge your
batteries is sleep because the den to scene has to process through your system
sleep is not optional sleep is not one of those things we can just get around
to and we feel like it it has to happen so if you want to get better sleep if
you want to get up early get something done for God limit your caffeine intake
limit this drug that it's blocking the den to see in your system and you will
fall asleep at 8 9 10 o'clock you will be an early riser so you can see you
know I don't want to go on and on about about caffeine but you know I think I've
made a case enough right there you know it's it's it's something that has we
don't really think about and look I love coffee I mean I love the smell of it
I love drinking it I love everything about it okay nothing about it I don't
like and look if it means hey I'm just gonna drink a cup one cup in the morning
great I don't I think you could still get a great night's rest on one cup of
coffee you know if you drink it early enough in the day but you know that's
just something I thought I'd throw out there because you know I want to make it
more practical because some people are gonna say hey you know what I want to be
really riser I want to do these things but they're not gonna they're not gonna
think about these basic tips about going to bed early about making sure you're
getting exercise or work throughout the day that you're not blocking your body's
own natural hormones from putting you to sleep through the use of caffeine my
last tip is this I'll close be consistent be consistent keep a regular
sleep schedule when I started doing that and you just train your body to just get
up and go to bed at a certain time you won't even need an alarm clock anymore
you'll just wake up and your body will just know it's time to wake up and
enough sleep and don't in the last thing I'll say is this don't mean don't say
well I'll catch up on my sleep on the weekend it doesn't work I'll just you
know I'll I'll just sleep in on the weekend and catch up to my sleep that's
not a consistent schedule the best way to be an early riser is to get up the
same time every single day and you and that's you know that's the truth but I
don't want to go down taking up too much of your sign you guys got to get home
and get to bed so let's go