Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
— Psalm 145:2 

If you’re anything like me, some days you awake feeling refreshed, and other days you feel sluggish and unmotivated. On those days, you may not feel like praising God. But I want to encourage you to consciously choose to start your day by blessing the Lord, even when you don’t feel like it, because this decision will affect the course of your day. 

This is the law of firstfruits. Giving God the first part of our day orders the rest of it. When we decide to sit before the Lord first thing in the morning and thank Him for His goodness and declare His praise, suddenly our emotions change, and God begins to empower us. We may have had no desire to praise Him just five minutes earlier, but after electing to do so as an act of our will, we soon find ourselves feeling good. We have joy. Our perspective changes. Through transitioning ourselves in the spirit by choosing to put God first, we shifted the atmosphere.

Jesus did not say, “Whosoever feels, come.” He said, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Beloved one, we can’t control how we feel, but we can control our will. Let’s choose to give God the firstfruits of our day and set our course in Him. The more you do this, the stronger, happier, and more stable you will be.

Rabbi Kirt A. Schneider, Entering His Presence (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2023), Used by permission.