Day 5
Daily Spiritual Habits of Disciples
Mark 4:18-19 describes people who hear the Word but the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for things enter in and choke the Word from them. They allowed themselves to be distracted and become unfruitful.
Every branch that becomes unfruitful is taken away, no longer abiding in God. Therefore, we must be keenly aware of the distractions that come into our days and our lives. I once heard someone say, what Satan cannot destroy, he will distract. I agree fully.
Distractions are subtle and all around us.
A distraction can be anything that shifts Jesus Christ from being the first priority in your life. We can look back to Martha who was distracted because she put work before sitting at Jesus’ feet. She was so focused on serving that she missed an opportunity to hear directly from Jesus.
A distraction is anything that cools your affection for God and the things of God. Distractions take our focus off of Jesus and, over time, can cause us to become disconnected from the true vine, Jesus. As Martha illustrates, even the things you do “for Jesus” can become a distraction from what He requires from you in the present moment. Martha was preparing to serve Jesus Christ a meal, what a privilege and joy that must have been! But what makes the lesson Jesus teaches so powerful is that He does not declare Martha’s serving or service to be the good part.
Therefore, a distraction does not have to be something that is “wrong” or “bad” per se. When you put a right or good thing in the wrong position (anything before Jesus is in the wrong position) it becomes a distraction and therefore the wrong thing at the present time.
Distractions hinder us from abiding in Jesus, from receiving what we need from Him, and from stewarding our time faithfully.
What are the distractions in your day to day? How will you remove them or put them in their proper place?
Are there things that you are doing “for Jesus” that are not His priority but are, instead, distracting you from the better and more specific thing that God requires of you?
Lesson 4: Distractions can be subtle so it is imperative to be vigilant about what gets your time and attention because nothing is worth becoming disconnected from Jesus.
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for this day and this chance to be mindful of the distractions that are all around me. Help me to see you. Help me to make you the priority at all times, because you are. Give me eyes to see distractions and a mind to resist them this day. Help me to see where I am more like Martha and less like Mary, that I may turn and choose what is your priority for my life in this day. I praise you this day and I thank you Lord! I pray this prayer in your name, Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Scripture
Mark 4:18-19 NKJV ”Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.“
John 15:1-2 NKJV ”I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.“
John 15:4-6 NKJV ”Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.“
Matthew 21:18-19 NKJV “Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, ‘Let no fruit grow on you ever again.’ Immediately the fig tree withered away.”
2 Corinthians 11:3 NKJV ”But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.“
Genesis 3:1 NKJV ”Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”“
Luke 9:25 NKJV ”For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?“
What stands out to me in this lesson is that a distraction doesn’t have to be doing something that is classified as wrong or bad. This leads me to reflect on what things could have me distracted because I’ve put them in the wrong position.