A LOT TO LEARN IN THIS LIFETIME
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
The Lord your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, otherwise the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you.
Deuteronomy 7:22 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
God speaks these words to the nation of Israel in the Promised Land. They are being told that complete victory is not going to be easy or instantaneously. The same is true in our spiritual growth.
We have to realize two things—we are slow learners, and we have a lot to learn.
Let’s address the “slow learners” part first. Just think for a moment how often we seem to repeat the same lessons over and over in life. We make a mistake and promise ourselves we will never do that again. Then something happens and we blow it—again. We say we got that lesson learned and make another promise to never do that again. Some lessons we do learn quickly and easily. Other lessons seem to take 30 or 40 failures before it sinks in, and we get it.
It reminds me of the man watching a professional golfer hit a shot. The spectator says, “I’d give anything to hit a shot like that.” The pro turns and says, “No you wouldn’t. If you would you’d be out hitting 300 balls every morning, take a break for lunch and hit another 300 balls, and then take another break for dinner before hitting another 300 balls.”
One man said that to become a professional tour golfer you need to practice six hours a day, six days a week for at least ten years. That is roughly 17,000 hours of practice to get rid of bad habits and develop the right habits to be a professional golfer.
We must recognize it is hard to overcome bad habits of our past and develop new habits that will lead us to spiritual maturity. There is also a lot to learn.
It is interesting that a person who has spent ten years developing a bad habit will walk into a counselor’s office and expect to spend one hour and get everything fixed.
Growth is often painful and scary. There is no growth without change; there is no change without fear or loss; and there is no loss without pain.
Think over that a few moments. We can’t grow without change and we can’t change without pain. If we really want to grow, we must commit to the time and the process. It will be painful, and it will take time. There is no short-cut to maturity.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit I know that You created me to be a mature follower of Jesus. You have a plan for my life. Help me commit today to follow You every day as I move towards spiritual maturity.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”
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