To obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams 1Samuel 15:22, “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse?“the blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today;?and a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 11:26-28a. If you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land Isaiah 1:19.

To a child of God who really desires to win in life or better put?accomplish their life’s purpose in God, Obedience is rather compulsory than optional. From the above scriptural verses, it is vivid that obedience is a pivot on which the blessings of God and fulfillment of God’s promise to His children revolve. Today we are going to look at another great winning mentality as displayed by Abram who later became Abraham, and that is not just obedience but EARLY MORNING OBEDIENCE

A stitch in time they say saves nine. It is always a sad and regrettable experience when we pass through avoidable wears and tears, wounds and bruises in life as God's children only to say “thy will be done O Lord?when we have run out of options.

When God called Abram, he commended him to get out of his country and from his kindred and from his fathers house into a land He ‘God?would show him. God also promised to make him a great nation and a great blessing.

He said to Abram “I will curse them that curse you and bless those that bless you and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed?vs2-3. The bible says in vs4 that Abram departed as the Lord had spoken onto him. Many of us have received clear instructions from God through his word and the inward ministration or confirmation by the Holy Spirit that now is the time to get out of our country, kindred and father’s house (which could mean different things for different people; they could mean deliberate sins, besetting sins, compromise with the world and it’s standard, trusting and depending on the help of man rather than on God), to a land (standard of spiritual life) where the promises of God and his blessings can be fulfilled and actualized.

It was his desire and determination to obey God’s word and inherit the promised blessings that shaped his life of early obedience. He could as well have had reasons why he should have not departed immediately as the Lord had commanded him.

He could have doubted God. He could have vacillated between the door posts of his father’s house looking at what he was physically going to loose, just as many people today are hanging between reasons and opinions of their own and others around them as why absolute commitment and devotion to God and His will are impossible but Abram did not do so.

If I may ask, what is currently forming or shaping your life and character? Is it the canal, mundane wisdom of this world which the bible says is coming to naught? Are they empty traditions and philosophies of men that have no relevance to the reality and truth of God’s word? Or is it the assuring comfort of the infallible word and promises of God which are forever Yes and Amen and settled in heaven?

Abram responded and came to the land of Canaan, passed through Sechem into the plains of Moreh. From there he went into a mountain in the east of Bethel etc until there was great famine in the land and he went down to Egypt with his wife Sarai.

He later went up out of Egypt a very wealthy man together with his nephew Lot. He came to bethel where he first pitched his tent. They dwelt in that place until the land was not able to support both of them. They resolved to live in peace as brothers and Abraham did not count his seniority something to be grasped. But he humbled himself and allowed Lot to choose. Why? Because he knew he was operating under the covenant of promise.

The moment Lot chose his portion and departed, God spoke to him in VS14 and said “Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are northward, southward, eastward and westward, for all the land you see, to you will I give it and to your seed forever VS16-18 Even when he landed to his own inheritance, he was still ready to move his tents to the plains of Mamre in Hebron where he built alter to the Lord.

On another occasion, in Gen 17:22, when God established the covenant of circumcision between himself and Abraham, He told Abram to circumcise every male child in his household including himself who was ninety nine years old. The Bible said that Abraham did so on that same day after God had departed from him.

What of in Gen 22:3 where God commanded Abraham to go and sacrifice his only son Isaac, on a mount where he would show him? The Bible recorded that Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son and the fire wood for burnt offering and set out for a journey of obedience to the will of God.

We don’t have to forget Gen 21:9-14 where Sarai saw 1shmael the son of the Egyptian bond woman mocking 1saac her son, and demanded that Hagar and her son be thrown out of the family. It was a difficult thing for Abraham to do but God said to him “Let it not be grief in your sight?

And Abraham rose up EARLY IN THE MORNING, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder and sent her and the child away.

Early morning obedience is the hall mark of our faith in God and His promises. It is the gem of spiritual excellence, the emblem of absolute dependence on God’s will. It is a winning mentality. It is for you. Why don’t you start now, it is still early.