While I was trying to write a devotion, my daughter's cat, Leo, walked on my keyboard, laid on my keyboard and finally laid down. Shortly, he was literally eating my notes. I picked him up and loved on him til he started biting me. Constantly distracting me from my devotion. The other night, during Bible study, my sweet, three pound dog, Duke was on my lap sleeping. In the middle of us reading Scripture, Leo snuck in, stood up in front of my chair and slapped Duke in the face, interrupting and distracting everyone.
Distractions have always been a problem! I read that distractions serve evil more than any other mental state. We cannot focus when we are distracted. And who better knows that and uses it than the devil himself! I can remember trying to focus in the pool while doing pilates and the wind would blow the Krispy Kreme donuts aroma over! Talking about distraction while you are trying to exercise? While I think we live in a world that is distracted from distraction by distraction, the Bible had their full share of distractions too!
Adam and Eve communed with God in the garden daily. While they did not have phones or social media, they had distractions! Satan designed a plan to distract their attention from God. After Satan prompted Even to eat the apple verse 6 says, "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it." Satan is still trying to distract us from doing what we were created to do. In 2 Corinthians 11: 3, Paul told the Corinthians, "But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ." He knew Satan is a distraction.
And let's not forget Martha! Her sister, Mary, sat at the feet of Jesus, listening to Him, while Martha worked in the kitchen. Sadly, when we think of Martha, we are reminded that she missed hearing the Lord. Luke 10: 40, "But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made." Yes, Martha was doing good things and probably preparing a meal for her guest and missed her time with the Lord. Like Martha, even good and necessary things can distract us from paying attention to Jesus.
These stories show us what God values most and that is devotion. We all have family, friends, work and school that are necessary and good but they cannot take priority in our lives. Let's pray for discernment to know what God is calling us to do. While I am reading it does not take much to excite my curiosity, shift my focus or scatter my thoughts. We are always having our focus shifted from God to the world around us. It takes commitment and sacrifice to quieten our distractions. Ephesians 6:13, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
Many things will cross our paths. We can pray Psalm 119: 37, "Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word." God will help us if we ask Him and we will blessed by it. Psalm 119: 1, "Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord."