Distractions
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:38-42.
In the Toledo Ohio area, two girls (teenagers) were driving in one car, and behind them two men were driving in another car on Interstate 75. One of the girls somehow placed her bra on the car antenna but it was blown off the antenna landing in the roadway behind them. James Campbell (37 years old) driving the car behind the girls swerved to try to miss the bra. As a result, Campbell’s car flipped over and over several times. James had a vertebra in his neck broken and his friend riding with him had several ribs broken. The girl whose bra flew off the antenna and landed in the roadway may face a misdemeanor for littering but that has not been decided for sure. No other charges are planned.
It is not always the big thing that can keep you from having eternal life or as a believer keep you from living the abundant life. Much of the time it is little distractions here and little distractions there that hinder our living of the Christian life, as it should be lived. The story of the driver dodging the bra is an example of someone having their mind on other things than driving. James Campbell apparently had his mind on the girls and there may have been other things going on too. It was enough for the sudden appearance of a bra, obviously not much of a road hazard, to cause some major problems. It could easily have caused both men their lives and the lives of others as well. The focus of the men was not on driving but on something else and it was very costly for them.
We remember the story of Mary and Martha very well. Martha was busy preparing the meal and was upset with her sister, Mary, for not helping. Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Him. So, Martha did what most people would have done she complained about it. She told Jesus to tell Mary to stop wasting time and to start doing some of the work. The response of Jesus must have been a complete shock for Martha, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
We can become so wound up and distracted by the daily necessities of life. Things that we feel have to be done are so distracting – that we miss seeing those things that are of most importance. It is so easy to be so tied up with urgent things, distracting things, that we let our prayer life go down the drain, we never think we have time, or we are too tired to read our Bible much less go to church. How can we talk to anyone about the Lord when we have so many things that have to be done? The point being that there are many worldly distractions from those things that have eternal importance and eternal value.
We must not slide through life always being too busy to do what we know we ought to do because there will someday come an end; time will run out, and it will be too late to do what we know we should have done. Jesus came so that you could have life now and to have it more abundantly (John 10:10). To have that abundant life, to live that abundant life, you must maintain your focus (Hebrews 12:3; Matthew 6:33; 1 Corinthians 15:58).
(Little distractions can keep you from experiencing the abundant life.)