The Early Risers Club
I’ve always admired those individuals who were “up and at ’em” every day before the first rays of sunshine cracked the horizon. To me, beating the chickens out of bed is the ultimate mark of a disciplined life. Over the years, I’ve noticed that people who get up extra early usually are the high achievers with the most productive lives. Conversely, it seems the later you sleep, the less you accomplish in the course of the day. There are exceptions to the rule, of course, but for the most part this seems to be true.
Reading the Bible, I’ve noticed many of the heroes of the faith were early risers, including Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Mark introduces Jesus by describing His power over demons and diseases. Mark then makes this note about Christ’s schedule: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35).
I believe one of the keys to Christ’s ability to conquer sin and sickness was that He first conquered Himself. (Remember, Christ was both God and man.) The fight against our own flesh is the toughest battle most of us ever face. If we learn to control our physical impulses, including the urge to sleep as late as possible, few other foes will be able to stand in our way.
Plenty of other verses extol the virtues of getting up early, most notably in the poetic and wisdom literature of the Old Testament. David said in Psalm 57:8, “Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.” In Psalm 5:3 he said, “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” David’s son, the wise King Solomon, later wrote, “Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread” (Proverbs 20:13). And just do a quick search of the word “early” in the Bible and note how many times the Patriarchs are said to have risen up early in the morning, often to perform an act of devotion to God.
Secular sages also have touted the benefits of an early start to the day. The Greek philosopher Aristotle has been quoted as saying, “It is well to be up before daybreak, for such habits contribute to health, wealth, and wisdom.” This advice continues to be repeated in modern times. Just Google “how to wake up early” and take your pick of the 1,650,000 results.
Considering the powerful benefits of waking up early, this year I’m making it my goal to develop the habit of rising daily at 5 a.m. That gives me plenty of time to set my focus on God through prayer and Bible reading. I’ve found it’s the perfect way to start the day.
But here’s the deal: I need your help. I recently stumbled across a website called thepowerofless.com, which contained “9 Rules to Form a Habit.” Rule number three was “Commit publicly.” The author, Leo Babauta, noted that one way to generate a little positive pressure on yourself was to announce your goal to as many people as possible. Babauta suggested using your blog to spread the word. This post accomplishes that.
Babauta’s rule seven is to report your progress, so beginning next weekend, I’m going to post my daily rise times for the previous week so you can see how I’ve done. I’ll make this a separate page on this blog so you can click on the link at the top of the page and see in a glance whether I’m living up to my ambitions. Oh, and if you’re curious, I got up at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, the day I put the finishing touches on this post. Close, but not quite five bells.
On a side note, perhaps you’re struggling to implement this same habit in your own life. Why not join me in my quest? Together we’ll break old habits and form new ones. We can be bona fide members of the Early Risers Club.
* All Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version.
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Early riser weekly update | Jonathan Mohr on February 8th, 2009
[...] This past week, I’ve been attempting to get up early each morning. My goal was to make it out of bed by 5 a.m. daily. As promised, here is how I fared. [...]