There is great power in small things repeated often, for good or bad. For instance, flossing your teeth every day can result in having your teeth the whole of your life. Or, eating extra desserts every day can bring on a multitude of problems.
Tonight we had a thunderstorm with some strong winds. Several smaller trees were blown down into our road, although none of them took any lines down.
I commented to Barbara that pressures reveal weaknesses in trees and in people. Failure to strengthen ourselves in the small things of life can result in being “blown over” when the winds of difficulty come.
On one of our prayer walks (which we do 6 days a week), we saw a tree that had been blown down in a recent storm. The trunk looked healthy, but as we walked along and got to the place where it broke, we could look right into it because the inside was completely rotted, with only a thin shell of bark holding it together (see picture). It didn’t take much to knock it down even though it was a big tree.
This illustrates the lives of many believers who faithfully go to church and are involved in activities, but fail to feed themselves spiritually. I know this is so because I ask often, “How’s your quiet time?” And many admit it is sporadic at best. Not spending time with God daily is repeating something that brings harm.
In reading through Proverbs I came to Chapter 8 which is about wisdom. In verses 33-36 it says, “Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it. Blessed are those who LISTEN to me, watching DAILY at my doors, waiting at my doorway.” Note that is watching daily, listening to wisdom’s instruction every day.
The result? “For those who find me find life and receive favor from the LORD.”
And the opposite is true for those who do not spend time in God’s word, nurturing their first love for Jesus, “But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death.” If we love wisdom we will immerse ourselves in it every day.
Guilt is not enough to lead us to a regular quiet time; love of God, finding joy in Him, valuing what he values–these will lead us to daily repetition of delving into His Word, listening to Him, learning to think His thoughts.
So, let’s make a commitment to not be like this tree, and instead to nurture our first love for Jesus, to have ongoing revival and to make consistent worldview shifts to line up with His Word.
