Mark 1:35  Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. (CSB)

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My bride stayed at our local granddaughter’s house on Christmas Eve. She had prepared sausage rolls and cinnamon rolls that required removing from the refrigerator a couple of hours before they were popped into the oven. I stayed at our house to take care of our dogs that evening and on Christmas morning. 

Christmas morning turned into a feast of great joy. Presents were opened, and our other granddaughter and her parents joined us via FaceTime so that we could enjoy presents from them and for them. 

When the oven was opened, and the delights were served, lunch became unnecessary. You will understand when I say the rolls were called up yonder if you are of a certain age. I’m not sure any sausage and cinnamon treats were leftover. If they were, it’s because someone put them away when I was not looking. 

Also, I am not looking at the scale this morning.

I enjoy getting up day by day, as today’s verse says, “before daybreak.” My favorite time of day is 5 AM. My second favorite time is bedtime. The quietest hours of the day are those before daybreak. That time makes it possible to listen for the voice of God without much interruption through daily Bible reading and prayerful meditation on what he says. 

Time alone with God rightsizes our capacity for spiritual depth. It expands our desire for more of him. It satisfies our hunger. 

Time alone with God provides perspective before stepping into the challenges and opportunities of our days. 

A man named Milt Hughes taught me and multitudes of others how to spend time alone with God day by day during our college years. I found one of those notebooks a while back. Milt provided tools for us to craft our individual approach. One of the blanks to fill in asked for a critical minimum of time each day for Bible reading and prayer. I wrote in fifteen minutes. 

The years have increased this minimum daily requirement. Days like today are special treats. My normal routine is complete. Now I can explore other thoughts and options without having to get ready for work. I am beginning to write next year’s Daily D devotionals today. 

Travel and medical issues knocked me off of my regular rhythm more times than I can count this year. I am beginning next year’s Bible reading and writing plan to prevent these from happening quite so much. This should improve the consistency of arrival in your inbox, and it will provide more time for editing. 

Many people will talk about resolutions in the coming days. Most of those resolutions will fail before the middle of February. Why not create a new habit instead? What time alone with God habit do you need to develop or expand? Take the first ninety days of 2025 to deeply ingrain this life-giving habit into your life. Keep a calendar that shows how many days you are successful. Build on that success in the following ninety days, and so on. 

This same process of habit development works for the other areas of your life (physical, intellectual, relational, emotional, and financial). Choose no more than four habits to begin or improve. Be specific in what you will do and when you will do it. For example: I will spend a critical minimum of thirty minutes per day in time alone with God at 6 AM. You can use this same formula for the other habits you want to create. 

Let’s finish 2024 well. Let’s begin 2025 with focus and steps toward life-giving habits. 

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I will build a better life through focused attention on what matters most.

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Our Father, help me finish well this year. Empower me to begin the New Year with focus and intentional improvement. Give me success that honors you and serves others. Amen.