The last couple of weeks have been very hectic and I have been concious that I have not been spending much time in prayer or reading my Bible. In other words I have been pushing God to one side and going my own way. On the odd occasion when I have picked up my Bible I have been unable to concentrate and it has become all too easy to put it aside and think I will go back to it later but never do, my busy schedule has got in the way. It is surprising how quickly a huge distance grows between myself and God when I neglect to spend time with Him and I have been saying sorry to Him for days now but still not done much about it.At lunchtime at work today I turned to my personal emails and was confronted by the verse of scripture that started the daily devotional that always comes through to me. It was this:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5
It was like a sharp stab, God was gently telling me to turn back because without Him I cannot do anything.
Later on this evening this revelation was emphasised once more. I was driving down the road a little way from home when I suddenly spotted a little girl of no more than 2 years old running as fast as she could down the pavement, a joyful expression on her face. A good hundred or so yards away was her mother who had been distracted by the baby in her pram and she had been reaching in attending to it. She suddenly looked up, noticed what was happening, and screamed at the top of her voice for the young girl to stop, shouting her name over and over again. Either the child did not hear or chose not to but she continued to run on, obviously enjoying her game. You could see the look of sheer horror and distress on the mother's face and you knew what was going through her mind as she repeatedly yelled "stop, stop!" and that she was imagining her precious child was about to run out into the road and be knocked over by a car. I drove round a bend and lost sight at that point so do not know what happened but the incident did make me think.
Is that mother's reaction the same as God's when He watches us turn away from Him and run in the opposite direction, ignoring His guidance and choosing to go our own way? Is He yelling at us to turn round and go back, to stop what we are doing? Is He equally horrified at what we are doing, knowing what the result will be? We might find what we are doing is fun and exciting but is it the best thing for us?
Only God knows what the road ahead holds for us so surely He must be the one to show us the way. I need to stop every now and again and turn to my Father to make sure He is still close by. I have to start talking to Him again and, more importantly, listening.
