The danger of distraction …

My sisters are a part of a conspiracy: they tend to say I was more spoiled than I really was.

You see, I’m the youngest of eight children. Numbers one through seven are all older sisters! That’s right, there was no brother around, and still I survived!

One of my sisters is only 10 months older than me. Because of the closeness of our ages, we did more things together and were close as we grew up.

Every now and then, when my more ornery sense of humor kicked in, I would very slowly reach out and barely touch the arm of my youngest sister with the tip of my finger. For some reason, this drove her crazy! She would instantly recoil and, with her most scolding face and a hissing voice, would say, “Don’t – you – touch- me!” with a stilted expression that emphasized each word as if it were a sentence itself.

I thought it was hilarious how distracting this tiny little touch was to her.

Of course, with that kind of reaction, I would respond by doing it again!

After a few times, she usually sought reinforcements by calling out to our mom. That would end the interaction, and I would go on my way.

That scene was one of childish foolishness between siblings. But it reminds me of how Satan, as our enemy, often bothers us. He’s famous for doing the simplest little thing in an effort to distract us; just a little touch that interrupts us and evokes a snarl from us. He laughs as he prods and pokes and gets us to react to his empty nonsense.

A distraction can lead to destruction.

Just a couple seconds of distraction while driving can result in a fatal accident. And being distracted from the things of God to react to the poking of the enemy can also be calamitous if we are led away to focus on his nonsense.

The Apostle Peter warns us about the enemy when he writes, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are” (1 Peter 5:8-9).

As Christians, it’s important to remember we have an enemy who is as committed to our destruction as God is to our salvation. But John reminds us that Christ keeps us safe from the evil one, and we need to make sure we keep God at the center of our hearts:

“We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them. We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts” (1 John 5:18-21).

Are you allowing the enemy to distract you? What are you doing to stay away from anything that would distract you from having God at the center of your heart?

Scotty