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Key Bible Verse: The next morning Jesus awoke long before daybreak and went out alone into the wilderness to pray (Mark 1:35). Bonus Reading: Colossians 3:1—4

What are your non-negotiables? Most of us who complain that we are disorganized simply don't know. As a result, the functions that will make the supreme difference in our effectiveness miss getting onto the calendar until it's too late. Do nonessentials crowd into your datebook before the necessities do?

The other day a man caught up with me and asked if we could have an early morning breakfast on a certain day. "How early?" I asked.

"You're an early riser," he said. "Why not six?"

I looked at my calendar and said, "I'm sorry, I've already got a commitment for that hour; how about seven?" He agreed on seven rather quickly but looked quite surprised that my calendar might reflect plans for that early in the morning.

I did have a commitment for six that morning. In fact, it started earlier than that. It was a commitment to God, who was first on the calendar that day. It's where He belongs every day. This isn't the sort of commitment one compromises. Not if one wants to seize time and keep it under control. It is the start of an organized day, an organized life, and an organized private world.

—Gordon MacDonald in Ordering Your Private World

My Response: Does God have a priority slot in my DayTimer?

Thought to Apply: Put morning devotions into your grooming. You don't go to work with a dirty face. Why start the day with your soul unwashed? —ROBERT A. COOK

Adapted from Ordering Your Private World (Nelson, 1984, 1985) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

If I'm to really meet with You daily, Lord, I need to create space for that encounter. Please show me how.

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