Distracted

We are sinners. That is the problem. Sinners, among other things, get distracted. You see, even when the matter at hand, the lives of hundreds of people, demands our utmost attention, training, experience and dedication, we can just look away. We fiddle with our iPhones as our automobiles move at high speeds among others at high speeds who are also fiddling with their iPhones. Of course, one mistake, one look away, one distraction and you end up on the front page of newspapers all over the world. Or, you end up with a broken home, a lost career, an eternal destiny unsettled, a rejection of the God who made you, whose creation speaks of His presence, and whose law is written on your heart.

You get distracted. You miss His Gospel. You overshoot your destination. You fly too high, too long and disregard every voice that comes at you. Other things have your attention. The truth is, whether we are flying planes, running seminaries, leading a congregation, arguing cases in court, raising a family, being a friend or a son or a daughter, we all can get distracted. We get distracted by the most inane things, such as computer programs, other women, pornography, new boats, buying houses that we can't afford, new religions that promise everything, sweet-talking spiritual gurus who tell us to go meditate in sweat houses in Arizona until we die.

The answer is not saying, "Oh, now I will focus on my job! I will focus on my family!" The idea is to listen to the voice. The flight attendant who asks, "By the way, where are we?" comes to us in all sorts of ways.

Thank God she asked the question. Thank God the Word of God comes to us in all sorts of voices, through pastors, Sunday School teachers, tracts left in public places, books given at Christmas, and sometimes through a child who asks, "Dad, is there a God? Why are we here? Where are we going?" It is in listening to the voice of God speaking through His Word, the Bible, attested to by the voice of the Holy Spirit. For we are all hurtling through time and space, flying high, with so much at stake. We all can get distracted. Thank God there is a divine interruption that has now come, if only we will hear:

"This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him (Matt. 17:5).