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WEEKLY ENCOURAGEMENT
Updated: Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Treacherous Distraction
Sirens scream, and lights flash as policemen and emergency vehicles rush to the scene of a one car accident, but all is in vain. The two year old child is dead, the father, and driver of the crushed automobile, dies a few minutes after the accident. This tragic loss is the result of the father becoming distracted with his cell phone.
If someone had told the father in advance that his carelessness would have caused the death of his precious child, he would have declared it impossible. He loved his daughter, had no intention of causing her harm, and confident he could drive her home safely. Yet, because the father became unexpected distracted, the impossible happened.
According to Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, eighty percent of all automobile accidents are caused by distracted drivers. The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society reports, distraction by cell phones average 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year.
Obviously, avoiding distractions in the physical realm is crucial. However becoming distracted and losing focus in the spiritual realm can be just as deadly. We as believers are involved in a spiritual war with a cunning and vicious enemy. "Be Sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" 2 Peter 5:8
The father in the opening story did not intend to kill himself or his daughter. He just became occupied with something other than driving. We have no intentions of causing spiritual damage to others, or of becoming spiritual casualties. We may feel confident in our walk with the Lord. However, our enemy will use everything at his disposal to distract and divert our attention. What does grab our attention away from the Lord?
Is it the demands and responsibilities of everyday life? It may be meeting the expectations of others, or the busyness and stress of our job or the ministry we are involved in. Regardless of the source of the distraction, it will cause the urgent needs of life to push the important ones out of view.
Scripture makes it clear that Jesus is to be the priority in every area of life. Yet, keeping Him as our main focus is not easy. We are daily bombarded with temptations which appeal to our flesh. We can become confused and disoriented by the world's philosophy. We are pressured to conform to worldly moral standards, fashions and work ethics.
Perhaps the strongest pull for our attention comes from our own flesh. The "self" in us wants to be in control and pursue its own desires, needs and rights. Nothing will distract us from the Lord quicker than our own logic and emotions. When self is in control, the Holy Spirit is ignored.
When we are distracted, our focus shifts from our Lord and his will, to ourselves and our own agenda. At this point, we are playing directly into the hands of the enemy and are in a perilous situation. What can we do?
It is decisive for us to face the reality of this spiritual war and that Satan, this world system and our old nature are our constant enemies. However, the most vital need is for us to realize greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4
As born-again believers, we have all the power of the Creator of the Universe on our side and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Satan is a damned foe and sentence to an eternity in hell. Our old nature has been crucified with Christ, and we are no longer in bondage to it.
Therefore, we need to claim our position in Christ, plant our feet firmly on the Word of God, act in the power of the Holy Spirit and resist the distractions sent our way by the enemy. We are the children of Almighty God and our divine purpose is not to cause spiritual damage or to become war casualties but to live victorious lives as instruments of righteousness and arrive with joy at our final destination.
POINT TO PONDER:Stop and take inventory. Where are you headed? Have you unconsciously become distracted from the Lord?
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- Sandy Hastings |
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