The days have seemed longer than they have been in a long time. Maybe it's because I'm getting up earlier and staying up later, or maybe because I'm doing more things. But, a part of me knows that it's because, while yes the previous things are true, it's also because I'm doing more of what is valuable.
That includes more quiet time with God reading his word, praying, devotionals, and finding answers to some of my questions. For a while, I've been afraid to ask questions or admit that I had them. But, that doesn't do anything but lay way for weakness in my faith and life. Along with my new commitment to have Christ lead my life, I've made a purity pact between God and myself. Today in one of the things I was reading, they talked about bonsais. They resemble our spiritual lives very similarly in how we need to be constantly pruned and shaped if we are to fulfill our truest potential. Right now, I don't really where my healthy limits are, but I do know the simplest way to find out. I think this quote that I read sums it up pretty well. "Guidelines don't create purity of heart. They create a safer environment in which purity can grow." Right now, my little bonsai is so overgrown, it isn't a bonsai anymore. I need to be in the best environment, and with God's help I will become the beautiful creation He always intended me to be.
"Create in me a clean heart oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Cast me not away
From thy presence oh Lord
Take not thy Holy Spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me"*
*words by Keith Green
