“I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.” (1 Corinthians 7:35 NLT)
What distracts you? When you’re trying to focus on reading or studying God’s Word what is the “something else” that begs you to give it your attention? When you’re trying to focus on prayer, where do your thoughts want to take you?
Life is filled with distractions, but that doesn’t mean they’re all bad. The context of Paul’s writing above is whether we should marry or remain single. Paul was single and was seeking to give his rationale for why others should consider singleness rather than to be married, but he wasn’t saying it was a sin to marry. He was simply saying when we join our lives with another person, whether in marriage, business, friendship, or otherwise, we run the risk of creating a serious distraction to our devotion to the Lord.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “distract” means: “to draw (the attention or mind) to a different object; to stir up or confuse with conflicting emotions or motives; harass.” How does that apply? Jon Bloom wrote: “Distractions frequently tell us what we love and trust and fear.”
What do you love? I love Jesus, but I also love my wife, my kids, my dogs, sleep, video games, and pinto beans and cornbread. So, what does that have to do with distractions? It depends. I think of the disciples asleep in the Garden when Jesus was agonizing over what He was about to do in obedience to His Father. Is sleep a sin? Of course not, but in that context, it was a major distraction to what the Lord was asking them to do.
Discipline in submitting our will to God’s, our desires to His, our preferences to His, is the battle all believers face, but it’s not one where a single solution fits every scenario. What’s appropriate for someone in a single scenario may be completely inappropriate in another.
For example, let’s say you’re sitting comfortably doing something that you enjoy when your wife comes to you and says: “I had a really lousy day today. Could we go out or get carry-out instead of me cooking this evening?” It would be rude and inappropriate to say, “Sorry, honey, love of my life, I’d swim the broadest ocean or climb the highest mountain to prove my love for you, but I’m really interested in what I’m doing. You can get takeout if you want, but don’t bother me right now.” How do you spell: “frying pan over the head?”
Most husbands wouldn’t dare do that, but, ironically, we do that to Jesus all the time. We rudely ignore His invitations to spend time with Him, opting instead to do something trivial that we like to do. I get it. I do, but that’s why disciplines are formed in the Christian Faith, to help prevent us from robbing God of His rightful time with us. And what time is that? Every second of every day!
“Whoa! I can’t do that!” Jesus did, and so can we with some discipline. “But how?” By learning to give more attention to the Holy Spirit than our own inclinations, desires, and cravings. “But that sounds hard!” Not as hard as hanging on a Cross for ungrateful and undisciplined people like me and you!
When are we going to understand that until our relationship with Jesus costs us something it’s not going to mean anything – to us or to anyone else?
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 