Are you one of those people who are easily distracted? It’s like when someone is telling you a story, and you’re listening, and then, someone shouts, “Squirrel!” and there you go. Your mind goes in a totally different direction. “What were you saying?” You know what I mean – I’m getting to the point that I can go to the refrigerator, stare in the open door, get asked a question, and then wonder – “Was I putting something in or taking something out?” There are many things that distract us from our plans.
We are sometimes distracted by sounds – sirens always make our hearts race, and we can’t help but look out the window. A baby’s cry will cause a very tired parent to jump up no matter how sweet that sleep was. We can even be distracted by smells – a whiff of chocolate chip cookies baking can bring children in from all over the house. The smell of smoke alarms us to look for fire. This week I have been distracted by a six year old named Aiden, who loves his Gammy and PaPaw. Its amazing how much energy that boy has, and how he is ALWAYS hungry! He goes from one thing to another so quickly. I couldn’t see my living room floor all week. It was full of Grand Champion horses, blankets and pillows to make forts with, and all kinds of empty water guns, light sabers, and swords to fight the “Cardassians” every night when we watched Deep Space 9! We had a wonderful week with our grandson, but I was very distracted.
This got me thinking about how easy it is for us as Christians to be distracted. We are thrilled when we rise from the waters of baptism to walk in that “newness of life” (Romans 6:4). But then, the newness starts to fade. We’re back to real life and the struggle to stay on the true path can be difficult with all of the distractions that the devil puts in our way. I Peter 5:8 warns us, “Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” Ballgames, hunting season, the river calling your name, the opportunity to sleep late on Sunday mornings, the desire to earn more money (you can never have enough – right?) are all distractions. The devil never runs out of ways to distract us from our service to the Lord. We must focus on we who we are and Whose we are.
Guess what, Friends? I actually started writing this blog three hours ago. Guess I got a little distracted. . . Simply blessed, Courtney
Not surprised!!
Thank you for this timely piece. It truly is so very easy to be distracted; particularly in the current times.
Thank you!!!