So there is one thing I have noticed about people (specifically myself) as I have gotten older: our attention span is not nearly as long as we have a tendency to think it is. I am not talking about our ability to sit still for a tv show or movie or a lecture or whatever else we might be doing. Rather, I am talking about our ability to keep ourselves focused on a goal or some type of life change we want to make. We get distracted. We join the gym in January and realize in March that it has been 6 weeks since we last went. We set out to read one book a week and get two done in a year.
We do this spiritually as well, but if we aren’t careful, it becomes more insidious. We want to focus our lives on the things that matter. We start reading our Bible more regularly, praying on a daily basis, we might even join a D-group for accountability and growth. All of these are great things and live-giving habits to develop. But then they become routine and our heart starts to become proud. We lose focus and forget that God is less concerned with the habits we develop than he his about the heart that sought them in the first place. We begin to think highly of ourselves, “Look how good I have done!“
We forget the our heart had been focused on growing closer to God, seeking to hear his voice and longing to be more like Christ. We forget the humility that drove us to his word and to our knees in prayer. We forget it was Christ that made a way and God who worked on our heart. You see, if we aren’t careful, we all have a tendency to become the Pharisee in Verse 11 while thinking we are the tax collector in verse 13. My prayer for you today is that you remember who you are in Christ and that in humility you continue to chase after him.
VC Devotionals 