Worthy of your concern …

Are you easily distracted?

Some people consistently maintain a disciplined focus, but many of us are easily distracted. Some more than others, like the farmer in this story told by Christian Cheong:

One morning a farmer told his wife that he was going out to pluck the ripen fruits from his field.

He got off to an early start so he could warm up the truck. He needed more petrol, so he went to the store to get it. On the way to the store he noticed the pigs weren’t fed. So he proceeded to the corn crib, where he found some sacks of feed. Beside the sacks were potatoes that were sprouting. Then when he started for the potato pit, he passed the wood pile and remembered that his wife wanted wood in the house. As he picked up a few sticks, an ailing chicken passed by. He dropped the wood and picked up the chicken.

When noon arrived, the frustrated farmer had not even gotten to the truck, let alone to the field. By now, it is very hot. Some ripen fruits have dropped.

To be distracted is to give our attention to “lesser things,” things that are not of importance, or at least not of “most important” status — in other words, they don’t rate at being worthy of our foremost concern.

So what is?

We discover what’s the one thing worthy of our primary concern from a story about a woman who was distracted with lesser things:

“As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.’ But the Lord said to her, ‘My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her,” Luke 10:38-42.

There is one thing — One person — worthy of your undistracted concern, and that is Jesus. Is your relationship with Jesus Christ your primary focus in life, or are there distractions in the way of Him being your first concern?

Scotty