If your phone was to buzz right now would stop to look at it? I know that I probably would. And that is fine. You’re just reading the first few lines of an article. No big deal. It’s not a very important task in the grand scheme of things. The issue though is a lot of people allow their phone to distract them from far more important tasks. Like watching a child or driving. Not only do we allow our phones to distract us from various tasks. But in today’s world, we are constantly distracted by almost anything and everything. Which causes us to be not only be distracted from tasks we need to do in this life. But also from the things of God by the things of this world.
There are a few things that tend to distract Christians from the things of God. Let’s go over what those distractions are and look at scriptures that address those distractions. In doing this, we can remind ourselves to not allow ourselves to be distracted by these things.
Distracted by Worry
Worry is one of the biggest distractions we face. Worry takes our thoughts away from God and puts the focus on our problems. We worry about jobs, income, and the desire for the things we are told make life meaningful. Jesus teaches on this exact subject in the parable of the farmer scattering seed.
Mark 4:19
“but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.”
We need to remember that worry will never get us anywhere of value. Worry will only create a separation between us and God. Thankfully we do not have to worry. Worry is something that we do not have to allow in our life. When worry begins to enter your mind turn to God and pray for peace. Let’s look at what Jesus says about worry.
Matthew 6:31-3, Jesus says,
“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
God knows we have needs and we can rely on him to fill those needs so we no need to worry our selves with those things.
Distracted by The World
We have already made references to the World in this post, but what does that really mean. The world really means anything that is not of God. So this could refer to common culture, types of music, various types of media, or anything that does not glorify God. Many of the things that we take part in every day are of the world. It is hard not to get caught up in them because we are surrounded by them. We ultimately need to be sure that we do not put more focus on these things than we do on the Lord.
1 John 2:15 tells us
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Showing a strong love for the world is to show a disdain the things of God. You may wonder how this can be, but it is very simple. To love the things of the world takes a strong focus. If you truly love something you put it above all other things. You began to put it on a pedestal and serve it with all you have. We are meant to have a love that we dedicate all we have to, but it is far from being anything of the world. This is the kind of love we are meant to reserve for The One that was with us in the womb, The One who caused the storm to still, The One true God.
Other things only work to distract us from that one thing that matters. We all have things we enjoy and like to do. We just have to be sure to never allow those things to move to a place above God. If you have looked around our sites at all you can see that we enjoy exploring nature, photography and spending time with family. All of those things are very important to us, but we do all we can to not allow them to take away from us serving the Lord.
Why Is it Important to Keep From Distractions?
We know what counts as a distraction now, but why should we worry about it? Well first and foremost because the Bible tells us to keep our focus on the Lord. The only way we can to that is to not get distracted. Not only does the Bible just tell us to just not get distracted. It also shows us what can happen we when get distracted and lose focus.
Matthew 14 tells of a time when the apostles were caught in a storm at sea. During the middle of the night, Jesus appeared out of the fog walking on the water. We then see Peter attempt to step out in faith and walk on the water. Before making it more than a few steps, Peter becomes distracted by the wind and the waves. Once his focus switched from Jesus to his surroundings he began to sink and cry for the Lord to save him.
Matthew 14:28-31 Peter answered him, “Lord, if it’s you, order me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come on!” So Peter got down out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came to Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he was frightened. As he began to sink, he shouted, “Lord, save me!” At once Jesus reached out his hand, caught him, and asked him, “You who have so little faith, why did you doubt?”
As we can imagine if Peter had kept his focus on Jesus he could have walked on the water for miles. However, he got distracted and began to put his focus on his surroundings instead of the person who could hold him up. If a brief loss of focus could cause an apostle to fall what can happen in our own lives when we become distracted by our surroundings? Often times becoming distracted will cause even the best Christians to fall into sin. Once you get distracted and begin to slip it is hard to catch yourself without completely removing the distractions from your life.
Things to Remember
If you can only remember one thing from this post I hope it is this. The Lord Jesus Christ should always be the most important thing in your life. The things of God should always be present in your life.
Colossians 3:1-2
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.”
We need to love the things of God above the things of this World. Never should we allow our worry to keep us from prayer. We should not allow football or hobbies to keep us from Church on Sunday. We should not let our phones keep us from spending time in the word of God.
Thank you so much reading!
We hope you’ve enjoyed this post. More than that though we hope this post reminds you to keep God as the focus of your life. We must never forget that because of Him, we have life and have it more abundantly. Keeping Him as the focus of our lives is a battle that we all must face. But together we can remind and encourage each other to stay strong in the Lord.
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