1 CORINTHIANS 7:35 – “This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.”
THEME OF THE DAY: DEFEATING DISTRACTIONS. My wife and I went on a walk this morning. On the journey, I asked her, “What are the three greatest hindrances to your walk with the Lord?” She pondered for a moment, then replied, “Laziness, busyness, and distractions.” My return statement to her was, “I think that would apply to all of us.” Let’s briefly address each one and focus on the last – distractions – for it characterizes our age.
There is really no order to these and all overlap, but the first we address is laziness. This trait is a result of the fall in the Garden of Eden. Our fallen nature and weakness of the flesh bends to comfort and ease which are close relatives to laziness. Jesus told His disciples about the weakness of our flesh . . .
“Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).
Be on guard against slothfulness. King Solomon warns of its devastating consequences in the spiritual realm.
“Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man” (Proverbs 6:6-11).
The second hindrance in our walks with the Lord is busyness. We all know this “beast” well. So many things scream for our time and most often they are really good things. They just so easily may crowd out the best things. The Apostle Paul was a busy man, yet, he could say one of the most profound truths ever to grace our ears …
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).
Paul did many things, but he said, “One thing I do. He would not allow busyness to crowd out his one thing – his relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We, like Paul, defeat busyness by being one thing people.
The final hindrance we face is distractions and that is where today’s scripture takes us. It doesn’t take long to identify the distractions that come to us daily like a flash flood. How do we quiet them? Multiple ways but here are two; stop and realize what we are – bought people to be the Lord’s possession. As His possession, He empowers us to defeat those distractions by keeping our focus on Him (Hebrews 12:1-2). A second way to send distractions fleeing is think who is the One we are being distracted from – the Living God who is our Redeemer. We then see distractions for what they are – tools of the devil seeking to break our fellowship with Him.
It was a good walk with my wife, physically and spiritually. May you also consider these spiritual hindrances.
PRAYER: Father, I need a constant stream of grace to prevent the many distractions from drawing me from Your Son.
REFLECTION: Distractions in our spiritual lives are defeated when we realize who we know, walk and deal with – God.