How Distraction Is Shaping Your Life

I like to get up early and brew the coffee around 5AM.  I love how quiet everything is and that early morning chill in the air. Once the coffee is poured, I typically hit the same spot on the couch and try to get some time reading my Bible and prayer. But even though I'm technically alone, there are quite a few things vying for my attention.  

Laptop. iPad. Nintendo Switch. Phone. Apple Watch.

I may sit down at 5AM. But here are plenty of mornings where I look up and suddenly it's 6AM. 

What happened?

The same thing that happens to you. My kids. The people who attend my church. Distraction is what happened. The reality is this:

What has your attention has you.

We live in the most distracted generation in human history. The average American touches their phone nearly 200 times a day. We spend roughly 5 hours a day on our devices. Over the course of a year, that equals nearly 2.5 months of our lives shaped by whatever holds our screen. If you're like me, that information can leave you feeling sad. Maybe a little hopeless. But here's the good news. 

Distraction isn’t new.

In Luke 10:38–42, Jesus enters a home in Bethany. Martha welcomes Him. In other words, she isn’t spiritually cold. She invites Jesus in.

Yet the very one who welcomes Him becomes distracted.

The Greek word used for distraction—periespato—means “to be pulled around” or “dragged in different directions.” It’s not light or casual. It’s violent. It’s fragmentation. A life subtly being pulled apart. That's something we can all relate to.

Notifications pull.

Deadlines pull. 

Expectations pull. 

Social media pulls.

But look how Jesus responds:

“Martha, Martha… you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.”

The word for “worried” means “divided in the mind.” Martha was divided in her heart and mind, yet the very thing causing angst wasn't inherently wrong. It simply became the thing that got ahold of her heart. A good thing became a distracting thing. And Jesus reminded Martha, and  continues to remind us, that the single most important thing is experiencing his presence. 

Jesus is the "only one.”

Anything that pulls your heart away from the presence of Jesus—even good things—becomes spiritually dangerous.

When you are in His presence, everything else fades in comparison.

So here’s the question:

What’s shaping you?

What has your attention?

What has your heart?

Is there anything distracting you from the "only one”--Jesus?

Because what has your attention has you.