Distraction is the diversion of attention of an individual or group from the chosen object of attention onto the source of distraction. Distraction is caused by one of the following: lack of ability to pay attention; lack of interest in the object of attention; greater interest in something other than the object of attention; or the great intensity, novelty or attractiveness of something other than the object of attention.
But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” – Luke 10:40
When was the last time you were distracted from something important and what was the distraction? For me when I need time to write, study or read I need to do so in another room other than where the TV is located. Why? It’s so easy for me to get distracted from what I need to get done with a simple click of the remote, especially during football season. I’ve also learned that social media can be a big distraction. Depending on what work or writing needs to get done I simply cannot concentrate if I have Twitter or Facebook running in the background.
Excuse me, I just got a tweet…uh, where was I? Oh yeah, distractions.
But while many things can distract us from achieving our daily tasks, our daily tasks can distract us from spending any time WITH Jesus. And when we don’t connect WITH Jesus, we pretty much forget about connecting with those who don’t know Him as well.
In Luke 10 Martha is so busy doing things FOR Jesus it distracts her from spending time WITH Jesus. So what about you? Do you find yourself so busy doing things for Jesus you’re distracted from spending time with Him? And what are some of those distractions? Do you find yourself so involved with youth and church events, camps, retreats, small group, and service projects within your community? All these things are good and should be a part of our lives as believers, but they should not get in the way or distract us from spending quality time with Jesus one-on-one giving Him the opportunity to expose us and others to who He is in our lives.
For many summer can be a time to scale back, slow down, and begin planning for the next school year, but that too can be at some extent a distraction, especially to your students. These summer weeks are a prime opportunity to spend time and disciple your students outside the church walls in your community and equip them to spend time WITH Jesus. The summer months are filled with many outdoor community events, which are the perfect place to connect with those that don’t know Jesus. To connect with others however, you have to be filled yourself. Then, pour into your core students, model connecting with those who don’t know Jesus, and be relational and relentless this summer. Your students mission field did not close at the end of the school year, it just left the building.
Aside from summer camps and/ or mission trips what are you doing to connect with your students WHILE modeling connecting with those who don’t know Jesus?
