Distractions, Distractions, Distractions

"Good" distractions, "bad" distractions--distractions nevertheless. Our walk with the Lord is constantly attacked by distractions. Some are the normal duties of life which press upon us. Some are of our own making. Some are presented to us by the suggestion of the evil one.

Paul wrote "that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction" (1 Corinthians 7:35). If that is going to happen we are going to have to take some positive action, for there are distractions everywhere.

Now the daily grind can be pretty distracting. But maybe that depends how we look at it. If we see it as "the daily grind" and that is all we see, it will most certainly be very distracting in our walk with the Lord. If we see it as God's purpose for us today and as an opportunity to serve Him and his Kingdom it will look quite different. The distraction will disappear, and we can live our lives as a service to God and our fellow men. That might even produce joy in the midst of the mundane.

Now there may also be things that we undertake that take our time and our interests (hearts). Hobbies and fun stuff can distract us and dull our hearts for Jesus and His Kingdom. We can have so much going that we forget we have a mission in life of drawing others to Jesus. Women love shopping, but men love fishing. And so life slips away and we never took time to really enjoy a walk with the Lord. I'm 72 years old, and how swiftly life has passed. I remember the motto that my mother had in our house when I was growing up. "Only one life, 'twill soon be past, / Only what's done for Christ will last." Let's determine not to waste our life on the trivial. We need time to relax and be refreshed but we must not let it overtake us.

Satan offers an abundance of distractions to get us started down his rabbit trails. Even if we have repented of our old life, he will seek to awaken the old sins of greed, beauty, fame, etc. And he is good at making it look a lot better than it really is. To avoid his distractions we must continually look away toward Jesus and daily relish His provision and blessings. If we focus on the distractions we will certainly fail in our walk with God. If we have repented and received Jesus as Lord of our lives we are sons and daughters of a King. God has planned that our lives should end in a glorious conclusion—to feast at the table of the King and our Savior Jesus Christ. By God's grace we can have a single eye and keep our focus clear.

—Silas Martin