My First Twelve
Written by Shane Pierson
The words
Alarm goes off at 5:13I slap it like it owes me moneyCeiling fan keeps turning slowRoom still dark, day still coming
Phone lights up beside my bedLike it knows I’m easy preyI check the world before I breatheThen wonder why it owns my day
You gave Heaven’s first and bestI give You what survivesA tired little piece of meAfter everything else drives
So take my first twelveBefore I start to runBefore I make my little tradesWith every rising sun
Ten to hear YouTwo to tell the truthIf I can give the morning awayI can give the day to You
I give my eyes to weather mapsTo inboxes and cheap opinionsI feed the dog, I check the scoreI keep my little false religions
Then act surprised when I feel spentLike I was robbed by something sneakyMaybe You were waiting thereIn the minutes I called easy
You never changed the thing You askedFrom altars down to nowThe firstling, firstfruits, first clean breathBefore I spend it out
So take my first twelveBefore I start to runBefore I make my little tradesWith every rising sun
Ten to hear YouTwo to tell the truthIf I can give the morning awayI can give the day to You
It is not much, but it is firstA little lamp before the sunA stubborn choice before the pullOf all I leave undone
I’ve called it small for long enoughLike small things don’t decide meBut every river I’ve becomeStarted where I let You find me
So take my first twelveBefore I start to runBefore I make my little tradesWith every rising sun
Ten to hear YouTwo to tell the truthIf I can give the morning awayI can give the day to You
Alarm goes off at 5:13The room is dark, but I can seeThe first thing that I give awayIs the first thing changing me
The story behind it
**The Story Behind “First Twelve”**
This song started at my oldest daughter’s seminary graduation.
I was sitting there as a dad, proud of her, proud of the work she had put in, and probably doing what most parents do at those things. I was watching her, thinking about how fast time moves, and trying to act normal while my heart was quietly getting beat up a little bit.
Then the stake president said something that landed on me hard.
He talked about how God gave us His Only Begotten Son. His first and best. His perfect offering. His ultimate gift to all of us.
And then he made the point that God’s request to us has been pretty consistent from the beginning. He asks for priority. He asks for the firstling of the flock. The firstfruits. The first tenth. The first and best part, before everything else starts claiming ownership over us.
Then he made it painfully practical.
The first twelve minutes of the day.
Ten minutes to read. Two minutes to pray.
That was it.
And honestly, it wrecked me a little because it was so simple that I had no good excuse for it.
I can give my attention to just about anything. I can wake up and check my phone. I can look at messages. I can scroll headlines. I can check sports scores. I can check weather I already knew was coming. I can hand the first piece of my mind to the world without even thinking about it.
Then somehow, later in the day, I act like giving God a few leftover minutes is the same thing as giving Him my heart.
That was the idea that became this song.
“First Twelve” is about the first battle of the day. It is about that little moment before the day starts running, before responsibility starts barking, before the phone gets its claws in, before I begin making tiny trades with my attention.
The song is not about pretending I have mastered this. I have not. It is actually the opposite. It is me admitting that I have treated small moments like they were harmless when they were probably shaping more of me than I wanted to admit.
Twelve minutes sounds almost laughably small. That is part of why I love the idea. God is not asking me to climb a mountain before breakfast. He is asking for the first clean part of me. Before I am distracted. Before I am irritated. Before I am impressive. Before I start performing for the day.
Just the first twelve.
Ten to hear Him.
Two to tell the truth.
That is the whole song.
It is a song about priority. It is a song about attention. It is a song about the tiny daily offering that might not look like much to anybody else, but could quietly change the direction of a life.
And as a father, hearing that at my daughter’s seminary graduation made it even heavier for me. Because I do not just want my kids to believe in God in theory. I want them to see me give Him priority in practice. I want them to know that discipleship is built in real minutes, on real mornings, in real homes, by real people who are trying again.
That is what “First Twelve” means to me.
It is the reminder that the first thing I give away may be the first thing changing me.
Testimonies & reflections
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