Distracted

I talked earlier this week about how Satan loves to use lies as a weapon against us. It's something he does very well. There's another weapon he uses with equal adeptness. It is distraction. These come in all shapes and sizes. They are literally a part of every single day of your life. They can sneak in and have you wrapped up before you realize what's gotten hold of you.

The dangerous part of distractions is that some of them can be very good things: family, careers, future plans, kids, hobbies, friends and church. You see what I mean about them being a sneaky thing?

Here is why distractions can be a problem. The Bible encourages us to make one thing a priority. (In fact, the original word we get our word "priority" from had no plural form. It was singular meaning there could only be one priority).

I was reading this verse this morning in my quiet time that reminded me of this:

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 NIV

All of it? So my career can keep me from serving God's purposes? My family can get me off track? You mean a flurry of activity at church can keep me from finding the very God I'm looking for? Yes on all counts. Now, hear what I'm saying. None of these things are bad...they can just keep us from doing the very thing that Jeremiah was talking about--using every ounce of our being to go after God.

When God is the priority of our life, we disarm one of Satan's great weapons. Life is placed into proper perspective. Jobs, relationships, money and material things become ways that we honor God rather than ways that God can honor us. Did you catch the difference? Our lives weren't meant to be about us but about Him.

The first sin in the garden came when Satan got Eve (and Adam) distracted with this question: "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'" Notice that the question here uses two of Satan's best weapons as one... a lie (God never told them this) and a distraction (Adam and Eve had everything they needed but Satan got them focused on the only thing they couldn't have).

Check yourself today. What has your life been about to this point? Finding the right spouse. Getting the right job. Securing that promotion. A white picket fence with kids in the house. Not one of these things is bad...neither was the fruit in the garden. But when our focus becomes about anything else but Him, we wind up losing and Satan's weapon has found its mark.