Morning and evening

Ezra 3:3

And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD, even burnt offerings morning and evening.

In the book of Ezra, we find the restitution and restoration of the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem. A group of God’s people had returned from Babylon, and they are now beginning to set things back up in the temple and to renew and reinstate the service of God. But before they even laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, there was something else that they built. They rebuilt the altar! The altar was the first thing they restored. The temple has no foundation if there is no altar upon which to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. And the same fact always stands true. How can we have any sort of solid foundation for anything without an altar? We must yield ourselves first! We must present our own bodies first as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, for this is our reasonable service. You see, the altar is of primary and paramount importance.

Now, what did they do on this altar? They offered the burnt offerings as was commanded by Moses the man of God. And when did they do this? They offered these offerings morning and evening. Please note carefully the consistency and the continuity of this. Every morning they offered. And every evening they offered. Does not Daniel, who ministered in Babylon, speak of the “evening oblation”? There must be an offering in the morning, and an offering in the evening! This is on purpose and it is designed by God. Every day should start with the Lord and every day should end with the Lord. We must offer ourselves to the Lord before we begin our day, and at the end of the day, we must thank the Lord for the day, and rededicate ourselves to Him anew!

My friend, how do you order your day? I don’t know how your day is arranged or scheduled. I don’t know all that you have to navigate in your life. But may I suggest that this is a pattern, a paradigm of sorts that we should imitate and replicate. Begin every day with your Lord without exception! Talk to Him generally before speaking to anyone else. And that will set the tone and the tune of the day. The day will either be a good day because we started with the morning offering, or it will be a stressful and strained and strife-filled day because we started in our own strength. And then, don’t forget! The day must end with the Lord! Do you want to have sweet rest? Do you want to lay your head down on your pillow at night filled with peace and tranquility? End the evening with speaking to the Lord! And, even as your eyes begin to close, say some final words of thanks to the Lord. And, I believe, as we begin to put into practice the principle of morning and evening, we shall find our days better ordered and our nights more restful. May we commit to this even now!

“Dear Father, we thank You for the principles found in Your Word, many of which can easily be missed if our minds are not attuned to them. We desire to begin every day with You, and end every day with You. Help this to be the new habit that we form at once. May this day and every subsequent day be governed by such a divine regimen. And we shall see numerous benefits we are sure. And we shall be careful to thank You for it all. In Jesus’ wonderful name we pray, Amen.”