Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - At the Down End of Your Day - #5192

Tuesday, December 5, 2006

Over the years, our family - and probably yours - has been divided into two functional groups: the morning people and the night people. Often these polar opposites seem to marry each other and drive each other nuts. Over her years at our house, our daughter for example, was a, well, kind of a slow freight in the morning - almost a no freight in the morning. She was hard to get up; she didn't have much of her characteristic spark when you woke her up, and there weren't very many of her trademark smiles. Now about 10:00 or 11:00 at night I would start to unravel. I'm less fun to be with at those hours, shall we say. Meanwhile, of course, my daughter would be bouncing off the walls. See, we each had our down end of the day.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "At the Down End of Your Day."

Whichever end of the day is your down end of the day, it's covered in our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 92:1-2 . The psalmist says, "It is good to praise the Lord and make music to Your name, O Most High, to proclaim Your love in the morning and Your faithfulness at night." David's talking about being positive and praising at both ends of the day - including our down end.

I have to confess that I've noticed this gap between by metabolism and my desire to be like Jesus. I can be having a good day of serving, unselfishness, caring, positiveness, and then the hour gets late. The later it gets, the more selfish I tend to get, the more brittle, the more irritable, the less likely to go out of my way to help someone, the more likely to say something cutting or sarcastic. You may say, "Well, shame on you, Ron." Yes, shame on me. But maybe you're no prize at the early end of the day! Whenever it's hardest for us to be like Jesus, that's when we need His resources the most!

I'm an A.M. guy, so I need to make a conscious effort to plug into the Lord's love and gentleness at night. Now, A.M. may be your tough time to be Christlike. Listen to David in Psalm 90:14 , "Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days." Wake up and focus on Jesus the very first thing. Set your sail in His direction from your first conscious moments.

Whichever is your down end of the day, be sure that Christ's Lordship reaches from your first waking moments to your last conscious moments. You can really hurt those you love most at your harsher end of the day. You need to be especially on guard spiritually in the times when your metabolism and fatigue make you vulnerable to your dark side and to the devil's attempts to get his foot in the door.

Remember, our Lord is the One who gives you a pillar of cloud to wake up in the morning, assuring you of a day that has been designed by your God. And He is the One who gives a pillar of fire at night to assure you of His illuminating presence every moment. If we are going to "blow it," we'll "blow it" in those weak, vulnerable moments - the moments when we most consciously need to declare the personal lordship of Jesus Christ and to practice that lordship.

So, are you ready for your practical take-home test of your real spiritual maturity? It's a short essay question. Here it is. "What difference is Christ making in me at the down end of my day?"