Who or what has your attention when you first wake up in the morning? Is it work e-mails, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, texts or other social media feeds? Is the first thing you do is tune into CNN, Fox News, check out the sports page, read The Wall Street Journal, or check your banking, retirement or investment accounts? Do the dings, vibrations and incessant notifications vying for your attention have you salivating like Pavlov’s dogs as you scramble for your device when your morning alarm goes off? I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve responded to that bell in the past, only to have the day quickly spiral out of control, especially mentally. What about when your head hits your pillow at the end of the day? What occupies your mind as you drift off to sleep, or as is too often the case, what keeps you awake at night?

The answers to these two questions make a world of difference and will determine the framework and trajectory of your day. They will set your mood, mindset, and mental state. When we focus on external factors first instead of an inward focus to set our direction for the day, we can quickly get off track. I don’t know about you but starting and ending each day by engaging with the One who created all things and knows us best sounds like the best plan to pursue. Instead of an external GPS (Global Positioning System) determining our daily destination we can have an internal GPS (God’s Positioning System) to guide and direct our day.

Weather it’s reading His Word, prayer, meditation, or a time of worship and devotion, God should have the first and final word of each day. A Psalm, Proverb, or reading of a scripture, from the Author of life sets our mind on things above instead of on earthly things. The Psalmist says early in the morning will I seek you. I will rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words. My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I may meditate on Your word.

Let me encourage you to adopt the following discipline – refuse to ever again let the first thing you see in the morning be the glow of a computer screen or mobile device.  So, when you get up tomorrow morning, will it be a day filled with stress, anxiety, discouragement, and disappointment or one full of peace and tranquility, filled with excitement, encouragement, exhortation, and exultation? Ditch the glow of the phone and seek instead the Glory of God.

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