God is not looking for perfection. He’s looking for commitment. He wants to know you will show up at the worksite each day to build your walls with Him.
There’s a great story that will give us a metaphor for this point.
On April 21st, in the year 1519, the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez sailed into the harbor of Vera Cruz, Mexico. He brought with him only about 600 men, and yet over the next two years, his vastly outnumbered forces were able to defeat Montezuma and all the warriors of the Aztec empire, making Cortez the conqueror of all Mexico.
How was this incredible feat accomplished – when two prior expeditions had failed even to establish a colony on Mexican soil? Cortez knew from the very beginning that he and his men faced incredible odds. He knew that the road before them would be dangerous and difficult. He knew that his men would be tempted to abandon their quest and return to Spain.
And so, as soon as Cortez and his men had come ashore and unloaded their provisions, he ordered their entire fleet of eleven ships set on fire and destroyed. His men stood on the shore and watched as their only possibility of retreat went up in flames and sunk into the bottom of the ocean. From that point on, they knew beyond any doubt that there was no turning back. Nothing lay behind them but empty ocean. Their only option was to go forward, to conquer or die.
When change is required, the most essential element is commitment. It’s much too easy to go back to the comfortable old ways of doing things when Satan attacks us. We have to eliminate all routes of escape for our flesh. We’ve got to burn the boats! If we don’t, we’ll find our flesh sneaking back to the shore at the first sign of temptation.
Wallbuilder Ministries 