In mid-August, when I returned to my hometown from Hangzhou, a good sister invited me to several Christian WeChat groups. Every day, according to the different requirements of each group, I had to pray, read the scriptures, call on the Lord’s name, sing praises, or share reflections on the scriptures. Also, in each WeChat group, I had to finish the tasks of the day on time or the groups would remind me at eight or nine o'clock in the evening. In addition, while I was in Hangzhou, I had several WeChat groups that did the same every day.
In the beginning, faced with so many WeChat groups, I was stretched too thin with housework and other things - I was always in a hurry all day long. Despite all my efforts, there were still groups whose tasks I couldn’t finish on time and they would send me several reminders.
In order to finish the tasks of each group on time, the first thing I did after waking up every morning was to read the instructions from each WeChat group. Because some groups required posting voice messages, I couldn’t be careless but had to take them seriously. Since joining these groups, my mind has been so occupied that I have hardly had the time and been in the mood to do housework and other things. As a result, I began to rebel against all of these tasks. But I was afraid of offending God so I had to follow through and complete the tasks.
Amazingly, after more than half a month's passive adherence to my morning duties, my whole person felt completely different from before. In the past, when I woke up in the morning, things in the world and thoughts from my life flooded my mind like a wave so my mood was not only always sad but also sometimes I was afraid. This feeling has gone now because it has been replaced by the sweetness of my morning meditations.
It took more than two months to move from passively doing tasks, to proactively engaging them, to longing for my morning meditation. For more than two months, by praying and reading God's Word every morning, my heart got close to the Lord and was full of peace and joy.
I woke up in the middle of the night last night, and I felt a fountain of joy surging from the depths of my heart, and I felt like breaking into song.
With songs and lyrics ringing in my heart, my heart was filled with endless joy… I hadn’t felt like this in the morning for many years. I looked at the time - 3 am - and gave thanks and praise to the Lord!
After this wave of joyful emotion, I began to think about why I had awakened each morning for more than two months without my previous sadness and fear. Even though the weather had been intermittently cold during these few weeks, I was not sad but was filled with a fountain of joy. That's because every morning for more than two months, my heart had established a close relationship with the Lord through my morning time of worship. My spirit was guided by the Holy Spirit, my heart was filled with the Holy Spirit, and my life was committed to the word of the Lord.
Romans 8: 5-6 says: "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires, but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;" In 8: 7 it says, "the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so." It goes on in 8: 8-9, "Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ."
The Christian mind is a battleground. In the past, I also read the Scripture and prayed every day, and I seldom had morning devotions. When I woke up every morning, my thoughts and thoughts were all about things in the world, the things of the flesh which are the enemies to God, so there was no peace in my heart but fear. For these two months, I found my mind was focused on God’s spirit, that my life was filled with the Holy Spirit and I was raised to a life of peace and joy.
Through the change of my mood brought by my dedication to morning meditation during the past two months, I know how important it is to first get close to the Lord every morning.
- Translated by Charlie Li
