Our Reaction to Distraction.

Dodger: Good evening!  How has life been treating you lately?  I'm glad you're here.  I have a small problem.  What's the most polite way to ask someone to pay attention to you?  Lilly's on her cell phone and is not looking at me, and I don't know if she's listening to me or not, but I don't want to be rude.  What should I do?

Lilly: ...and send.  Oh!  Hi!  Did I keep you waiting?

Dodger:  Yeah, sort of.

Lilly:  I'm so sorry.  I didn't mean to be rude.  I guess I sort of got distracted.

Dodger:  That's all right. You actually just gave me an idea.

Lilly:  Oh?

Dodger:  Yeah.  You know, you aren't the first person to get distracted.

Lilly:  I hope not.

Dodger:  Christians get distracted too.

Lilly:  You mean, we text on our cell phones while Jesus is talking to us?

Dodger:  Well, I hope not, but that's not what I'm saying anyway.  What I mean is that Christians are supposed to live everyday with our eyes fixed on God, but it's easy to get distracted from Him.  When we do, our focus becomes on something else other than God, and that has unpleasant, even painful results.

Lilly:  I see what you mean.  Well, I can think of something that distracts our focus.

Dodger:  What's that?

Lilly:  Ourselves.  I'm one of my favorite subjects.  I love to talk about, and think about, myself.  After all, I see me everyday!  There's no forgetting that I'm right here.

Dodger:  So how do you think we can be distracted by ourselves?

Lilly:  There's actually a pretty long list, too long for me to go through the whole thing.  But, for example, I know that I can be distracted from Jesus by my own bad behavior.  It's easy to focus on all the stuff I do wrong, instead of what Jesus does right.

Dodger:  I see what you mean.   I know that I'm distracted pretty easily by my own pride.  I like to think that I know everything, since it's fun for me to believe, even though it isn't true.  And there are probably a thousand other things about us that would cause us to focus on ourselves instead of Jesus; everything from anger to selfishness, to attitude problems to fear!

Lilly:  I just thought of something else that distracts us.

Dodger:  And that is?

Lilly:  The world.  There's so much happening in the world today, that it can be very distracting.  It has so much to offer that doesn't really matter, but we can still focus our lives around it if we aren't careful.  I mean, I was right next to you Dodger, and I wasn't even aware you were standing there, just because of my cell phone, which isn't even a new or nice one!  And that doesn't include all the other things the world throws at us, from TV to schoolwork to busy schedules to what's popular to bad news to plain old lies!

Dodger:  You're right.  A lot of things are trying to get our attention all the time.  It can get pretty overwhelming.  Plus, I just thought of one more thing that can distract us from God.

Lilly:  Another one?

Dodger:  Yep.  The last one is the devil.  He loves to distract Christians, not just with the things we mentioned above, but even with himself.  If he can convince us that he's more powerful than we are, or get us as Christians to be afraid of him, he succeeds in getting our focus on him, which does no good at all.

Lilly:  I think I understand.  The fact is that when Christians focus on God, we can get amazing things done.  When we fix our eyes on Jesus, we become very strong, and the enemy doesn't want that to happen, so he tries to prevent it.  So...what should we do about it?

Dodger:  Well, what we just talked about isn't even close to a complete list of distractions we all face.  But the good news is that there is plenty we can do to fight distraction.  The first thing we can do is study God's Word.  God's Word keeps us on the right track, and by focusing on His Word, we fix our focus on God.  King David of Israel tells us that:

"As for God, His way is perfect;

The word of the Lord is proven;

He is a shield to all who trust in Him."  (2 Samuel 22:31 NKJV)

It's pretty hard to focus on other things when we are focused on reading about a perfect God.

Lilly:  I'm grateful God gave us the Bible.  Did you know it actually tells us to focus on God?  Check out Hebrews 4:12.  What's another thing we can do, Dodger?

Dodger:  We can pray.  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (NKJV)  Prayer is simply talking to God. When you focus on talking to your friend it's harder to be distracted.  It can be that way with God.  That isn't to say that we won't get distracted even when we pray and read the Bible.  But when that starts to happen, we can fix the problem, repent if necessary, and readjust our focus.

Lilly: Oh, and don't let the devil scare you or distract you.  The Bible already promises that he will lose.  He just wants to make others lose too, and bring them to hell with him.  Don't listen to him, but when he does try to distract you, just ask Jesus to help you, and remember what 1 John 4:4 says: "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (NKJV)

Dodger:  Finally, try saying like King David did:

"Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Your Spirit is good.
Lead me in the land of uprightness." (Psalm 143:10 NKJV)

Lilly: That's how we can fix our eyes on God.  After all, He's far more fun to focus on than anyone else, and He loves more than anyone else can!

Dodger:  Amen to that. Well, we better get going.  Thanks for coming in today!  Remember, Jesus loves you, and that's never going to change!

Lilly: Beannacht!

(NKJV Means New King James Version)

Confidence in Christ.

Dodger:  Hello there.  I'm glad you could make it.

Lilly:  Me too.  I had a great week.  It was wonderful, especially Wednesday.

Dodger:  Really?  Do tell.

Lilly:  I went to a sports competition and won the three events I participated in.

Dodger:  What were they?

Lilly:  Basketball, Track, and Volleyball.

Dodger:  I see...but how...never mind.  Was your competition tough?

Lilly:  Absolutely.  But that didn't frighten or intimidate me.

Dodger:  Why's that?

Lilly:  Because I knew that I had been given the training, the abilities, and the gifts to compete with the best of them.  I didn't feel insufficient for the task.

Dodger:  That's pretty great.  You know, that gives me an idea.

Lilly:  What kind of idea?

Dodger:  An idea of how to live our lives.

Lilly:  Come again?

Dodger:  I mean that Christians can be as confident as you were.  You see, the training, abilities, and gifts you were given didn't come from you but from God.  You were confident you could use them well.  In the same way, Christians can live confidently, knowing that their confidence is from God, along with their abilities.

Lilly:  Can you give me an example?

Dodger:  I can give you five.  First, we have confidence we will be saved.

Lilly:  Is there a scripture for that?

Dodger:  Yes indeed.  You see, the Bible speaks to Christians and non-believers both.  It says: "But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):  that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:8-11 NKJV, boldface added)  The simple fact is that those who confess and believe Jesus, in other words, everyone who becomes a Christian, will be saved, and never be put to shame.  By the way, by "confess" the Bible does not mean to tell on yourself.  It means to openly declare Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Lilly:  I see.  So Christians can live confident that they will be saved.  That's great.  What's another example?

Dodger:  Christians can have confidence in their Savior.  Jesus is our High Priest, who atones for our sin.  Not only is He the sacrifice for our sins, He is also the High Priest who administers it.  In ancient Israel, it was the priest's job to sacrifice animals on an altar and by doing so cover sins.  But Jesus took away the sins of the world, He didn't cover them.  Not only that, but He never committed a single sin, although He was tempted to, just like we are every day.  Hebrews 4:14-16 says "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (NIV 1984)  We can approach God's throne and ask for forgiveness, confident in our Savior.

Lilly:  That's awesome!  So what's your third example?

Dodger:  We can be confident in our Manual.

Lilly:  What manual?  I don't have any particularly important manuals just lying around.

Dodger:  Yes, actually you do.  In fact, you bring it every time we talk to each other.

Lilly:  Oh, you mean the Bible?

Dodger:  Yes I do.  The Bible is the Manual by which we can live our lives.  God used a lot of people to write it, and since He never makes mistakes, neither will His Word.  As Hebrews 4:12 says: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (NIV 1984)  And 2 Timothy adds: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV)  Of course, this applies to girls too.  The Bible gives us all the instructions we need to live our lives.  Stick with it, and you can't go wrong.

Lilly:  I'm sure glad God gave us His Word.

Dodger:  So am I.  We wouldn't have a lot to talk about otherwise, would we?

Lilly:  So what's number 4?

Dodger:  We have confidence in His power. Acts 1:8 gives us Jesus' promise: "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (NKJV)  Philippians 4:13 gives us another verse: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (NKJV)  As Christians, the Holy Spirit who dwells within us gives us power over the devil, and the ability to do even what seems impossible.

Lilly:  So we don't need to be timid, because God gives us power over the enemy, and over everything that would try to harm us.

Dodger:  Right.  Prayer is a powerful thing.  There's nothing God can't do.

Lilly:  What's your last example?

Dodger:  We can have confidence in our freedom.  We can be confident to live in the freedom He gives us from everything we used to be enslaved to, especially sin.  Jesus told us "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36 NKJV)

Lilly:  That's pretty cool, Dodger.  So what you're saying is that we don't need to live fearfully or timidly, because our confidence is from Jesus Christ.

Dodger:  Yes.  I can't think of anyone I'd rather rely on more.

Lilly:  Me neither.

Dodger:  Wow.  It looks like we've gotta go.  Thanks for coming by today!  Remember, Jesus loves you, and that's not about to change!

Lilly:  Farvel!





(NKJV means New King James Version
NIV 1984 Means New International Version 1984)