"Have I an object, Lord, below?"

"Have I an object, Lord, below
Which would divide my heart with Thee?
Which would divert its even flow
In answer to Thy constancy
O teach me quickly to return,
And cause my heart afresh to burn.

Have I a hope, however dear,
Which would defer Thy coming, Lord--
Which would detain my spirit here
Where naught can lasting joy afford?
From it, my Savior, set me free
To look and long and wait for Thee.

Be thou the object bright and fair
To fill and satisfy the heart,
My hope to meet Thee in the air,
And nevermore from Thee to part;
That I may undistracted be
To follow, serve, and wait for Thee."
--G.W. Frazer

Reading this old hymn this morning makes me realize, yet again, how very distacted and divided I am in my devotion to the Lord. Even more so as I read of Jim Elliot's life in "Shadow Of The Almighty". That man was utterly devoted to the Lord. He had a singleness of mind that I want just a piece of. Comparing my life to his (not that it is necessarily the apogee of the Christian life, but certainly an excellent model to strive for) I find some similarities, some areas where I know I have eliminated distractions from the Lord. But there are so many more areas that must still be trimmed down so that I may devote more and more of myself to Him. How to do this I am still not exactly sure. There is no recipe or easy way to go about it. Everything that is in my life now is important to me in some way or another. But I'm finding that it's a matter of HOW important these things are to me. I love music. I spend quite a bit of time listening to it and looking for more of it. And music has served a purpose. It has spoken to me time and again. And God has spoken to me through it. But more and more I feel that it is now a distraction. And the same for reading history. I love history. I love to learn about it and understand the flow of it and how it has shaped people and events and places. But the time for making it a priority in my life has passed. While I was in school it was necessary; now it is another distraction from time in prayer or the Word. But paring these things down will be difficult. I've spent years and years making them a priority and it won't be easy to reverse this process. But the Lord is showing me that He has other things that I need to be doing to prepare for the future. Jim Elliot's example here is particularly wonderful. I have a Spanish Bible that I need to be reading much more frequently than I am. How much greater could my impact in Ecuador be if I know all my favorite Sciptures in Spanish? As of now I have only memorized a 2 pitiful verses, John 3:16 and Romans 3:23. Elliot was studying Greek and Spanish and indigenous Indian languages years before he ever left for the misison field. And it served him very well once he got there. I could go on and on about this because there are just so many things that need to change in my life, but sitting here discussing the issue is not changing it. It's time to get serious and disciplined and cut all the flab in my life. God has given me the unbelievable privelige of going to another country to serve has His witness; I have done absolutely nothing to deserve this, so how can I do any less than be prepared for the job?