Coffee. “Wait!…not until I have my coffee”, at least that’s how the new commercial from McDonald’s starts out. A tall 30 something, making his way through the busy New York streets presumably on his way to work, stopping everyone who wishes him a good morning with that line, “Wait, not until I have my coffee!”

In some ways I can empathize. Although I’m not a heavy coffee drinker mornings are not my favorite part of the day (unless of course I’m playing golf). I remember in high school waking up on the weekends around noon, all of my hair standing up on end, dragging my self to the breakfast table…or lunch table depending on how you see it! Perhaps I was genetically predisposed to sleep in. My mother was always carrying a coffee cup with a picture of an old woman on it who looked like she’d been in a train wreck, emphatically touting the slogan “I Don’t Do Mornings”. I’m sure most of us can identify on some level. If not the commercial wouldn’t be nearly as funny or successful.

Perhaps it’s my getting older, more than likely it’s the ever-approaching birth of our first child, but it seems like recently the first thing I’ve been craving in the mornings isn’t coffee, it’s the Word of God. Not like a “sure, I guess I’ll have some” craving, but more like an “I’m gonna spontaneously combust if I don’t get some of that right now!” kinda craving. Sometimes I wake up and it’s like I can’t breathe if I don’t hear from the Lord. I imagine this is what King David meant in Psalm 63 when he wrote:

“Oh God, You are my God; I will seek Thee earnestly. My soul it thirsts for You, my flesh it yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

I would love to tell you it’s this way every day for me but it’s not. Most days it’s lunch before I get to my quiet time…..and my attitude shows it. Just like the guy in the commercial I can be short and edgy with people, even down right mean. I know, I know it’s hard to believe but it’s true, things don’t go well for me or those who cross my path when I haven’t had my coffee, I mean quiet time.

So my question is this: What do you crave first thing in the morning? What would happen if instead of our coffee or drug of choice we began to seek the Lord first thing in the morning? How would our priorities, relationships and passions change as we “seek first the kingdom of God”? Food for thought….or coffee if it makes you feel better.

Ba da bop ba ba I’m lovin’ it.