Can you imagine knowing someone who whenever you sit down to discuss something with them, the moment you bring it up they jump up, say "yeah, yeah, I got it. I'll go take care of it" and ran out of the room. Would you find that frustrating? Your desire is to talk to them about the situation and yet, they just run off and try to take care of it themselves.
I think that we often do that to God. Here's an example. We hear a sermon or read something on hiding God's Word in our heart. The Spirit convicts us that we aren't doing that. Do we immediately begin to talk to God about the situation? Or, do we jump in our cars, run to the bookstore, buy a Scripture memorization kit, call a friend to hold us accountable and begin to figure out what Scripture to memorize, where to tape it to our dash, how often we'll look at it during the day, etc?
We can do those things but they just make leaves on the tree, not fruit. They make us busy and looking good and make us feel better because it eliminates the inward pain of conviction. It numbs the pain and lets us regain our balance. But it's pretty much worthless and we'll dive into Scripture memorization for a week or so but then it will fade and we'll stop.
In Galatians, Paul wrote "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Gal 3:3 ESV) Remember, it's God who transforms you, not yourself or your activities and actions. The next time God wants to talk to you about something, stay there and talk with Him. Don't just jump up and go to solve the problem yourself. You are the problem and you can't fix yourself ... if you could, then you wouldn't need Jesus and we all need Jesus and more of Him!!
Copyright © 2006 Greg Holl. All rights reserved.
I think that we often do that to God. Here's an example. We hear a sermon or read something on hiding God's Word in our heart. The Spirit convicts us that we aren't doing that. Do we immediately begin to talk to God about the situation? Or, do we jump in our cars, run to the bookstore, buy a Scripture memorization kit, call a friend to hold us accountable and begin to figure out what Scripture to memorize, where to tape it to our dash, how often we'll look at it during the day, etc?
We can do those things but they just make leaves on the tree, not fruit. They make us busy and looking good and make us feel better because it eliminates the inward pain of conviction. It numbs the pain and lets us regain our balance. But it's pretty much worthless and we'll dive into Scripture memorization for a week or so but then it will fade and we'll stop.
In Galatians, Paul wrote "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" (Gal 3:3 ESV) Remember, it's God who transforms you, not yourself or your activities and actions. The next time God wants to talk to you about something, stay there and talk with Him. Don't just jump up and go to solve the problem yourself. You are the problem and you can't fix yourself ... if you could, then you wouldn't need Jesus and we all need Jesus and more of Him!!
Copyright © 2006 Greg Holl. All rights reserved.
