Getting back on track
Photo courtesy of Steven Xiong Photos
Being a follower of Christ is not easy, but it is very easy to get off track. If we aren't watchful, we will go back to living for ourselves and not for Christ. Just when we think everything is hunky dory, we find that we are so far from God. Our prayers become weak and repetitive, without depth as if they are just bouncing off the walls. Days become weeks and weeks become months since we've been in God's Word. We stop going to church or connecting with our Christlike brothers and sisters, and we become less accountable. We begin spending a lot of time watching TV, on social media, eating, drinking, playing, and entertaining ourselves. Then we begin to compromise, and do things that we consider not "technically sinning". Pretty soon, our world becomes dark and chaotic, and we don't remember or know how we got here. We didn't even realize how off track we were, except for the nagging feelings of frustration, guilt, sadness, or defeat. We struggle because we know too much to go back to living without Christ, yet not enough to stand firm in our faith and walk daily with Christ without wavering. How do we get back on track? 1 Peter 1:13-14 says it like this, Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep a clear head, and set your hope completely on the grace to be given you when Jesus, the Messiah, is revealed. As obedient children, do not be shaped by the desires that used to influence you when you were ignorant.
Desires that influenced me when I was ignorant...hmm. I am still influenced by previous desires. I still struggle with this. There are so many things that have distracted me, causing me to take my eyes off Christ. Most of them are undetected, or innocent things. I guess that's what ignorant means. One major distraction that I often battle is the worldwide web. As you've probably experienced, it is very rare to have quiet time nowadays. Even when I am alone physically, people can contact me in a heartbeat via phone, text, email, Facebook, etc. How many hours do you spend on the web? Let's be realistic. I mean, goodness. I am on the web right this minute as I write this. It's so easy to get sidetracked by the web. I think I am just going on to look up a scripture or post something on Facebook, but what should have been 15 minutes turns into 3 hours! Have you ever done that? It's stunning how much time we lose on the Internet. Remember the days when we didn't even have cell phones? If we weren't home, people would have to take a message for us, and we would have call that person when we got back. Now, people can get a hold of us at anytime of the day, and some even get angry if they can't get a hold of us right away! There is an urgency to everything now, even when they truly aren't urgent at all.
Or, it can start out as innocent as watching one episode of a show, buying an outfit, watching something on YouTube, looking for an idea on Pinterest. Then we spend more and more time on those things, and less time seeking God. The one episode becomes binge watching, the one outfit turns into daily shopping, and we accumulate more and more things that we don't need or can't afford. Maybe we indulge in some chocolate cake and ice cream, then find ourselves having a slice every night. It could be anything that takes our eyes off God. Distractions are things that suck our time, attention, and focus. I once heard Joyce Meyer say, too much of a good thing is a bad thing. That means, too much eating, too much drinking, too much working out, too much television, or too much shopping. It leads to us investing more time into these things, and less time with God. Soon those things that consume all of our time, energy, and affection ultimately becomes our god. Our passion and desire for God gets lost. But God's Word encourages us and says in Colossians 3:2, Keep your mind on things above, not on worldly things.
But that's not all, we have other duties and responsibilities. Work, family, school, church, and extracurricular activities. So much to do and so little time, right? There are now self-help books on how to do it all, but we need to go back to the real self-help book--the Bible. That is where the true wisdom lies. The balancing act seems impossible. (I've already mentioned how we have the whole world vying for our attention in my Sick, stressed, or struggling? post, distracting us and bombarding us with problems and issues so I won't go on too much about this). How can we do everything we need to do, and still have time for God? We stop doing what we should do, and start doing what we shouldn't do. There are some days that I wish I were a magician so that I could magically make all the problems disappear, but that would be too easy. In reality, we fail, but we must get back up again. We have to find out where we left God, and go back and seek Him. Zachariah 1:3b says “Return to me, declares the Lord Almighty, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. Then, we must be intentional in our relationship with God. Seek him like we would that chocolate cake, or that newly released phone! God can do more for us that those things ever could. Let us turn back to God, what are you waiting for?
Let us Pray.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this message. We know we often get distracted and carried away by everyday things, and before we know it, we are off track. Father, we spend more and more time divulging into these things, and less and less time getting to know You. That isn't how we should live life. Isaiah 55:6 says to seek you while you may be found. We ought to seek you daily because we need you in all areas of our life. Not only when things get too hard, when we need something, or when things aren't going our way. You desire to be a part of every aspect in our life. Help us to hand our lives over to you. Lord, we thank you for your patience and ask that You forgive us. Along the way, we have left, lost, or forgotten you. We've abandoned, neglected, and turned out backs on you. Show us where so that we may come back into Your Presence. You want to be in our lives and to have a real relationship with us. Give ear to today's prayer that those who do not know You will seek you and be found, according to your Word in Matthew 7:7. You want to be found. We so easily get distracted so reveal to us the things that are keeping us from you. Keep us grounded and on the straight and narrow path Matthew 7:14. Give us the desire to read your Word, and we pray against all the distractions. We praise you and thank you. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Prayerfully,
Pam
