The Morning Star

At the hunting camp this week, I woke up early, think the three o’clock early, and a lot of the guys were all in the common area drinking coffee and talking. These were old friends and guides for the hunt that day. 

I grabbed a cup of coffee and found a chair in the corner of the den so that I could read the Bible, do my morning routine. I must say, I felt odd and out of place, different. I won’t go as far as saying ashamed, but I did feel super strange. I was definitely out of place. I must have been a weird sight.

I sat in the chair and thought to myself, “why do I get up and read the Bible?” I mean, is it ritual? Is it to check the box? Is it to try to make myself religious? Do I try to work my way to God? Do I somehow think I am better than others? What is this strange routine that I practice?

I came to the answer that morning in the hunting lodge. I get up to read the Bible each morning because I cherish God’s unique words to me. What I get in that first hour or two each morning is greater than the rest of the day. In fact, the rest of the day fights what I hear, learn, and read each morning. Most days, the rest of the day fights my mind, my relationships, my soul. But, that first part of the day, there is a light.

In 1 Peter 1:19 and in Revelation 2:28, Jesus is described as the “morning star.”

The Morning Star. This is the description of Christ that I needed to put into word what I feel about reading the Bible in the morning. It isn’t about me at all. I need it, I crave it, I have to have it, because I know me.

Regarding the morning star, Matthew Henry says “he brings the day with Him into the soul, the light of grace and glory.”

I want to revisit something I typed above. The rest of the day fights what I hear, learn, and read each morning. The rest of the day fights my mind, my relationships, my soul. 

The Morning Star fights back.

If I did not begin each day in His Word, the war would be lost before the day begins. I know me, and I would just be a soul being tossed to and fro in the waters of the world. Every conversation, every post, every situation would leave my soul in turmoil, confused, struggling. 

The Morning Star starts each day with a light, regardless of the weather outside. The sun rises in my heart with fresh truth, love, and grace. The Morning Star is fresh each day, new each day, full of grace each day. The Morning Star gives me a reset, a chance to start new.

I learned this week why I do what I do each morning. It isn’t anything about improving my standing with Jesus as that was finished at the cross.

I start each day with God’s Word simply because I love it. When the light shines in your soul, there is fulfillment found like no where else. The Bible is a never-ending gift that I cherish. I would be a ship without a sail without it. The Morning Star fills me for the day.

Ever wake up depleted, empty from journey of life or from the previous day? The Morning Star brings light.

I encourage you to read what Adrian Rogers typed about the Morning Star.

And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” 2 Peter 1:19

Remember the resource of revelation. If we’re to know God, God is going to have to reveal Himself to us. The finite can never understand the infinite unless the infinite explains and reveals Himself to the finite. Even if the Scriptures are perfect—and they are—we must be able to understand them. 

And God knows that. This Scripture that is inspired also illuminates. It shines into our hearts and gives light. The word dark in this verse doesn’t mean dark like you turn out the lights; it means being squalid, murky, dirty, or filthy. When Peter says, “until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart,” he’s not talking about the Second Coming of Jesus; he’s talking about the sunrise of the soul. 

You have that dark, squalid, murky, filthy place in your heart, but the inspired Word of God shines into your heart, into that dark place, and reveals the Lord Jesus. The Holy Spirit takes the curtain of your skepticism, pulls it aside, pins it with a star of hope, and floods your heart with Gospel light. He did that for me and for you. You have the inspiration of the Word of God and the illumination of the Word of God.

The Morning Light is available to all.

Maybe it sounds strange, weird, even over-the-top. I get it. I guess it is. But, if you think about it, the Words of Scripture seem impossible to believe. The fact that a death can create life can’t be understood. As Dr. Rogers said, God has to reveal Himself, illuminate the truth.

And, the Morning Star will always illuminate. We just come to the door and knock.

Impact others. Live generously.

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:19