“Directed Or Distracted?”

"Directed Or Distracted?"

       

     Distracted driving constitutes a real danger these days as smartphones beckon the attention of those who should be keeping their eyes on the road.  Automobiles become weaponized in the hands of those who forget how many deaths and injuries occur every year even when cars are driven carefully and safely.

    "Ye are turned away from the Lord" (Numbers 14:43).

    Distracted living involves an even more serious error of heart and mind.  Our spiritual enemies ever seek to divert our attention from the Life of our lives - "To live is Christ" - and to thwart our experience of God's presence and involvement (Philippians 1:21).  Life is busy and we must attend to the daily components necessary for survival and success.  Amid all, however, many choices present themselves to remember our Lord and respond to His glory and will.  I think of this sometimes when removing my cellphone from my pocket to glance at news headlines or perhaps consider some interesting Internet tidbit sent by someone for my consideration.  There is nothing necessarily wrong with doing so (except when driving!).  However, I would be less than honest if I did not confess that I sometimes miss opportunities to direct my focus to the Lord.  I have a Bible in my phone, wherein the words of God await.  The Holy Spirit indwells my heart to foster prayers that impact the eternity of myself and others.  And sometimes it is simply best to "think on these things," that is, to consider whether I am pondering life in terms either directed by God, or distracted by lesser things (Philippians 4:8).

    I have been guilty of distracted driving.  I have been far more guilty of distracted living.  Thank God for His mercy that has kept me from hurting others or myself by my carelessness on the roads.  I thank Him even more for His forgiveness and cleansing regarding the too many times I have turned away from the God, Truth, and reality that ever beckons my heart to join the prophet: "I will look for Him" (Isaiah 8:17).  Opportunities abound to seek our Lord, requiring choices to be made to look for Him, and to look away from distraction.  We can be sure the Holy Spirit works in our hearts to capture and secure our attention.  By His leading and enabling, may we make the choices to respond in the eternally beneficial devotion declared by the writer of Hebrews…

"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."

(Hebrews 12:2)

"Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are issues of life."

(Proverbs 4:23)

Weekly Memory Verse

    "I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being."

(Psalm 104:33)