2 CORINTHIANS 11:3 – But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
THEME OF THE DAY. THE SUBTLE WORK OF DISTRACTIONS. In our daily battles against sin, the world, and the devil, there is a real and present spiritual danger that requires a keen and discerning eye to avoid. If we are not watchful, this tactic of our spiritual foes will be upon us faster than the Philistines rushed upon Samson. And the reason why we must be daily watchful for this danger is because of the ease of its allowance in our lives. It is the danger of distraction; the lesser things in life distracting us from the main thing in life – our walk with the Lord Jesus. What makes this danger so real and subtle is the distractions keeping us from the Lord Jesus don’t have to be sinful.
In today’s scripture, the Apostle Paul is reminding us of the deceptive power of Satan in his encounter with Eve. If you have time, go back and read Genesis 3:1-13 and see this crafty foe at work in the Garden of Eden. The devil’s work against Eve was to get her to doubt God’s Word and goodness. But ultimately, it was to get Eve’s eyes and heart off the Lord and onto herself. His crafty work continues today, and the Apostle Paul states the devil’s desire is to “lead us astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” Let’s consider two areas of distraction the devil may use against us to draw us away from keeping the main thing in life, the main thing in life – our walk with the Lord Jesus.
First, the devil may use the “Martha-syndrome” in distracting us – Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-42). Friends, you and I woke up this morning with the demands of the day filling our heads. Family responsibilities, work responsibilities, errands, chores . . . and all of them were screaming, “Me, me, me first.” And what may easily be silenced is the still small voice of God’s Spirit wooing us to start our day with the Lord; carving out sacred time in the Word and prayer to meet Him and get spiritually ready for the day. And all those things we must do today? Good things, but, if not checked, will become distracting things; distracting things from the main thing – our walk with Jesus.
Another distracting tactic the devil may use in our lives is the use of pleasure. God gives us all things to richly enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17). However, we live in a pleasure-obsessed culture, and Christians have been adversely impacted. I don’t think we need to go any further than the way the Lord’s Day, Sunday, the day of “spiritual family reunion” is easily compromised for the pleasures of the world. Don’t schedule outings, worldly entertainment, or pleasurable events on the Lord’s Day. He didn’t give us His Day for earthly pleasure, but for spiritual rest and pleasure. Don’t let Sunday become an extension of the weekend. It isn’t another Saturday. So, let’s not take the good things of pleasure and allow them to distract us from His Day which is designed to help us keep the main thing the main thing in life – our walk with the Lord Jesus.
We live in a dangerous and complex world requiring constant spiritual watchfulness. Let’s ask the Lord to help us do that by being on guard against the ever-present danger of distractions keeping us from developing and deepening our walks with Him.
PRAYER: “Lord, help me develop a watchfulness over the devil’s subtle attack to distraction from You.”
QUOTE: “Gross sin isn’t necessary to break our fellowship with the Lord. Distractions will do it ”