They are everywhere! I’m talking about distractions. They come in all shapes and sizes and draw the mind in another direction. When it comes to some areas of life, distractions are harmless enough. When it comes to your spiritual life, they can prove to be disastrous.
The thing about distractions is that they aren’t necessarily bad things. They are just things that get in the way. The Hebrew writer referred to them as weights (Hebrews 12:1). The danger lies in their ability to steal away our focus and divert our time and energy to lesser things.
Notice in that passage the writer put weights alongside besetting sins. Satan has both weapons in his arsenal. Some people are brought down by besetting sins. Others get distracted by weights. They resist the bad stuff of life only to succumb to the good stuff that draws them away from the important stuff. Whether it’s besetting sins or weights, in the end the result is the same.
By it’s very nature a distraction creates inner conflict. You feel pulled in two directions, at least at first. The more you yield to the Spirit, the weaker the pull of the distraction will be. But the more you give in to the distraction, the fainter the voice of the Spirit will grow.
Case in point: The more a person yields to the distractions of life that lead them to skip church, the easier it will be to resist the future urgings of the Spirit to corporate worship. If they keep it up, regular church attendance will become a thing of the past for them.
So what can we do to resist the distractions that are sure to come our way? We can remember!
That’s what God told the Children of Israel to do in a most unusual way in Numbers 15:37-39. In this passage God told Moses to tell the people to attach tassels to their clothes with a blue cord. Why blue? Because blue is the color of heaven. Attached to the every day clothing of the Jews was a constant reminder that they served the God of heaven! Whenever tempted with earthly distractions, all they had to do was look at the tassels and blue cord and remember theirs was a heavenly calling.
So is ours. Remember who you are in Christ and what your life is really all about. Remember to say “no” to the many good things so you can continue to say “yes” to the really important things. And remember that Satan doesn’t have to entice you to commit one of the seven deadly sins to bring you down. All he has to do is slowly draw you away with a distraction.
Pastor Todd Weston
The thing about distractions is that they aren’t necessarily bad things. They are just things that get in the way. The Hebrew writer referred to them as weights (Hebrews 12:1). The danger lies in their ability to steal away our focus and divert our time and energy to lesser things.
Notice in that passage the writer put weights alongside besetting sins. Satan has both weapons in his arsenal. Some people are brought down by besetting sins. Others get distracted by weights. They resist the bad stuff of life only to succumb to the good stuff that draws them away from the important stuff. Whether it’s besetting sins or weights, in the end the result is the same.
By it’s very nature a distraction creates inner conflict. You feel pulled in two directions, at least at first. The more you yield to the Spirit, the weaker the pull of the distraction will be. But the more you give in to the distraction, the fainter the voice of the Spirit will grow.
Case in point: The more a person yields to the distractions of life that lead them to skip church, the easier it will be to resist the future urgings of the Spirit to corporate worship. If they keep it up, regular church attendance will become a thing of the past for them.
So what can we do to resist the distractions that are sure to come our way? We can remember!
That’s what God told the Children of Israel to do in a most unusual way in Numbers 15:37-39. In this passage God told Moses to tell the people to attach tassels to their clothes with a blue cord. Why blue? Because blue is the color of heaven. Attached to the every day clothing of the Jews was a constant reminder that they served the God of heaven! Whenever tempted with earthly distractions, all they had to do was look at the tassels and blue cord and remember theirs was a heavenly calling.
So is ours. Remember who you are in Christ and what your life is really all about. Remember to say “no” to the many good things so you can continue to say “yes” to the really important things. And remember that Satan doesn’t have to entice you to commit one of the seven deadly sins to bring you down. All he has to do is slowly draw you away with a distraction.
Pastor Todd Weston