Distractions
August 1, 2011
Dear Friends,
There are a lot of things that require our attention. We have some very important things such as our jobs, our families and the things required for daily living such as eating, exercise and personal hygiene that keep us very busy. Yet, if we really sit down and think about it, there are probably a lot of things that we give our attention to that aren’t necessary and, in the big scheme of things, not very important at all. We can call these things that take up our time and energy “distractions.” These things aren’t helping us to improve our mental wellbeing, our careers, our spiritual well-being, our personal relationships or our physical health.
We sure can waste a lot of time with distractions. Things like TV, the internet, sports, video games and hobbies can keep us from getting to where God wants us to be. Now please don’t misunderstand me, I am not against rest and relaxation. I am not against any of the things mentioned above in their proper context and in good measure. What I am saying is that if these things are hindering us from being the person God wants us to be because we are overindulging in these things, we need to reexamine how we are using that time.
By way of example, I once met a young brother who spent about six hours per day watching TV. That is 42 hours per week — a full-time job! He was, at that time, overweight, unemployed and still living at home. My counsel to him was to redeem that time by working on improving his education to make himself more employable and hitting the gym. His distractions were not only hurting his quality of life but I believe it was also hurting his standing before God (see 2 Thess. 3:10).
We don’t have to go anywhere near that far though to be distracted and make poor choices. We can be overly involved in doing good things when we can be doing better things. We have a great example of this in the story of Mary and Martha. We are told in Luke 10,
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”(Luke 10:38-42 NIV)
I’ve always felt a little bad for Martha. I am sure everyone has had the experience of working like a dog while someone, who should be helping you, doesn’t lift a finger. However, in this case, Jesus takes Mary’s side as she has chosen “what is better.” Martha’s choice wasn’t bad. She was serving her brethren. At the same time, if we have a chance to have a Bible study with Jesus or cook, this should be a “no-brainer.” Notice Jesus says that Martha was “distracted.” There were things going on more important around her than cooking but she wasn’t paying that close of attention.
We all need to take Jesus’ advice and chose “what is better.” I don’t know what that is in your life that is distracting you from “more important” things, but I think we each need to take a step back and see if we can’t determine what those “better” things are and pursue them.
Have a great week,
Comments»
No comments yet.