Early to bed.. Early to rise..

Good morning and greetings to you through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. For those of you who know me well, you know I am a late night kind of guy who is most definitely not a morning person. However, so far this school year I have been going to bed about eleven thirty every night and have been getting up at six thirty each morning. Now I was up at six thirty every morning this summer for work, so it probably does not seem like that big of a deal that I am still getting up that early. However, getting up for work I have always been able to do, because being late to work just is not an option. Getting up that early on my own free will is impossible. I tried the first couple mornings I was down here, before classes started, and I ended up rolling out of bed anywhere from nine to even ten thirty. However, my dear friend Chris wanted to do a Bible study and the only real time we could do it together every day is that early in the morning. Now, I do not want it to seem like I do not think Bible studies are important or that it is not worth getting out of bed for, but when that alarm goes off the first thought through my head is, "Nope, not today." It's a good thing Chris is my neighbor and I know if I do not get out of bed and get dressed he will be over pounding on my door. Once I get out of bed, use the restroom, and get that first sip of coffee I am wide awake and excited to be up. It is just a very slow and kind of cranky process making it through those first three steps, especially the first one. Then when I stop and think about it, isn't it kind of funny how that works. To get up for work, of course I do not want to get up but I know I have to so I always do. Or when I get up before day light during hunting season to be out in the blind before sunrise, I have very few problems getting myself up and ready. But ask me to get up for a Bible study and it takes everything in my power to drag myself out a of bed. This is my sinful nature at work in me. My sinful nature is more than happy to allow me to do fun things like hunting or things that just seem mandatory like work. However, my sinful nature resists anything to do with God or faith. The Devil just whispers in my ear, "Doesn't your bed just feel so comfortable? You can skip just this one day of Bible study and still be a good Christian." And if it was not for good friends holding each other accountable I would listen to those whispers everyday. Thank the Lord He has given me good friends who can support each other to not listen to those temptations.
Once I'm up, I love our time together and the studying and meditation we accomplish. We are working through the book of Galatians right now and it brings up some great discussions. It is especially good for me because that is the book I will be using for my Bible study at my field work church.  I truly do believe there is no better way to start every day then to be able to sit outside while it is still cool, drink a hot cup of coffee, and read and discuss the Word.  If you have never tried it, I highly recommend it.  But again, I suggest doing it with a friend or group to hold you accountable to actually doing it.  

Other than that I am just slowly getting back into school mode with classes and work.  Right now I have the advantage that my books have not come in the mail yet so I have a valid excuse to not read.  However, that will sadly only last another day or two and then I will have to play catch up.  I am super excited though because this weekend is a big one.  I get to move into my bigger room which means I can finally unpack and get everything out of storage and feel like I actually live in my own room.  I am also excited because my good friend Aaron Sailor is coming into town.  Not only do I get to hang out with him, but he is taking me to a Cardinals game.  I told myself this would be the year I get to one and sure enough he is helping me accomplish that goal. I told him I would buy his beer and snacks since he is paying for my ticket.  I know it will be a blast, just have to pray for nice weather.  

One thing that came up in our discussion through our Bible study was the idea of justified through Christ.  Galatians 2:16 is sometimes referred to as Luther's verse, because it was one of the main verses he used to defend his view at the diets during the reformation.  Every good Lutheran knows we are justified by Christ alone through faith alone, but what does it really mean to be justified in Christ?  I hope you think about this on your own for awhile and try to really hammer out what that sweet statement means to you and your faith.  So go ahead and stop reading this for a couple minutes and then when you have pondered on it, continue reading to see what little old me has to say.   

OK, you have thought about it?  Well here is what I will say about it.  A professor of mine, while explaining two kinds of righteousness (which if you do not know what that is please ask me and I will GLADLY explain it to you), explained it this way.  When we lay in bed at night at the end of the day, we begin to think about what we did that day and how we did that day.  We may think was I the best mother/father I could have been?  Was I the best husband/wife I could have been?  Was I the best boss/employee I could have been?  Was I the best/most faithful neighbor I could have been?  The answers to these questions will most likely always come up as no.  While we may not have done anything wrong that day, we will always feel like we could have done more or done better.  We will always fall short of perfection when looking at how we live our lives.  We are sinners and we fail daily, hard truth of life.  However, while we know we might have let down our spouse, child, co-worker, or neighbor, we also have the assurance we are justified in God's eyes.  We are righteous in our relationship with Him.  Not because of anything we did, because we sinned and failed to keep His expectations too, but because of Christ's righteousness which we have upon us.  We know that we are righteous and justified in the eyes of our Lord each and every night.  This gives us comfort and hope.  It also gives us the strength to wake up the next day and try harder to be a better spouse, child, parent, employee, etc.  We wake up every morning with a clean slate to try our very best to be the best person we can be.  Not because it is for our salvation, but because it is what we are called to do.  And every night when we think about what we could have done better, we have the assurance we are still blameless and pure in the eyes of the Lord because of the simple fact that we are justified through Christ.  All Praise be to Him who sent His one and only Son to die for us, allowing us terrible, failing sinners to be justified and righteous in His sight because through baptism we were clothed with the holy, pure, and eternal righteousness of Christ our Savior.  

Dear Heavenly Father, 

Thank you so much for the people you have placed in our lives.  Help us each to hold our brothers and sisters accountable to growing closer to You, stronger in our faith, and closer to each other.  Thank you for also giving us our salvation and justification completely through Your free grace and mercy.  We deserve nothing besides eternal punishment for the lives we live.  But through Your gracious mercy, You gave us our salvation at the cost of Your Son's life.  Help us to be the best children of Your's we can be each and every day, knowing that even when we fall short we are still justified in Your eyes.  We ask all this in the name of our Lord, Jesus. Amen.