~Distractions~

Thus says the Lord: What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me?They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.
Jeremiah 2:5

"If you will return, O Israel, return to me,"declares the LORD. "If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives,' then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory." This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: "Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it.
Jeremiah 4:1-4

Those verses were part of my quiet time a couple of days ago... they really struck home to me. I've been very distracted lately... not nessarily with the big stuff. But with the little stuff. I've been giving up my time to things that are worthless. I was a bit convicted when I read over Jeremiah 2:5. It basically says that if you follow worthless things, you become worthless. This got me thinking, I had to ask myself... "what is worthless in your life?" What a great question ask yourself in order to check up on where you spend your time!
As I kept reading, I stumbled into Jeremiah 4 where the Lord revealed to me that I needed to "put away detestable idols" and "not to sew among the thorns," but to "circumcise" or commit myself to the Lord and a life of purity. Not a bad thought, eh? Get rid of all the stuff that keeps my attention off the Lord and focus on spending my time on eternal things. Sounds pretty simple, huh? Not so fast! Spiritual growth is a looong process. I've been learning a lot about this by reading a really good book called The Green Letters by Miles Stanford. It talks a lot about the process of spiritual growth and how the beauty of character is best developed over long periods of time and experiances. A really good quote that comes to mind from the book is this: "When God wants to make an oak, he takes a hundred years, but when He wants to make a squash, He takes six months" (pg. 14)
Pretty simple thought, pretty hard to grasp in reality. God reveals himself in his timing, not ours. Despite the fact that we all want to be stronger instantly, God takes His time and as a result we are stronger people and stronger followers. Sometimes the only thing we can do is trust. Even though it may be a slow process, I would rather be an oak tree rather than a squash anyday.
Thoughts?