Serve the Lord without Distraction

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

Can you read the length of this devotional without an interruption or a distraction? Our lives are full of them. Just when you sit down to talk to someone the doorbell sounds, or the phone rings, or the teapot sings. About the time you say “I think I’ll pray awhile,” someone drops by, or you hear a siren, or the newspaper headline catches your attention. You think to read your Bible online but an urgent email arrives, or you suddenly remember an overdue payment, or a popup ad appears enticing you to check out the latest offer before time runs out. Our lives are full of distractions.

How easy we think it would be to accomplish our tasks if we just had enough time free of distractions! Yet we find it impossible to be without our phone or away from the internet for any length of time. We place ourselves where a call or text message or an email can interrupt us at anytime. We know we’re being distracted but don’t have the will to ignore the phone, lock the door, set aside the urgent demands of the day and make time for the truly important things in life.

If only there were time to complete all we set out to do! In truth we all have the same twenty-four hour day. Why is it then that some seem to accomplish so much more in the same amount of time? Could it be in the way we deal with distractions? Some create a “to-do” list and check off the items completed in order of priority. We are not all so organized. Others delegate the tasks that others can do and then focus on the things that only they can do. Wouldn’t it be nice to have such qualified people around us ready to do our bidding! Some isolate themselves from people in order that they might perform their duties. That may not be an option for us.

I believe that we can do a better job of prioritizing our responsibilities and asking God to give us people that can help accomplish all we have set out to do. Whether the distractions are sins or just encumbrances, the writer of Hebrews encourages us to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us.” Put away the unproductive, unedifying, and unnecessary aspects of our lives and “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

Serve the Lord without distraction! Allow me to join with the apostle Paul when he wrote, “And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distraction” (1 Corinthians 7:35).