Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 14: Single-Mindedness”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Do you easily get distracted?
Here’s some interesting data: from “You Can Get Focused (Hint: Put Down That Phone),” Caren Osten Gerszberg writes:
The average person’s mind wanders 47 percent of the time, according to a 2010 Harvard study, so nearly half the time you’re doing one thing, you’re thinking about something else. Add the 24-hour news cycle, the barrage of social media and the countless distractions for those working from their bedrooms, backyards and walk-in closets — a number that has more than quadrupled from 8.2 percent in February 2020 to 35.2 percent in May 2020, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas — and it’s no surprise that people are struggling to focus.
“Some would argue that human attention, not money, is the most valuable commodity there is,” said Angela Duckworth, the author of “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” and the founder and scientific director of Character Lab, a nonprofit that connects researchers with educators. “It’s the ultimate scarce resource.”
Studies say an average person spends 2.5 hours a day on social media and 4.25 hours a day on television – and more the older one is!
I recently heard someone say that the problem we have today isn’t the lack of information, but that we have too much information.
We are bombarded from every direction with news, pictures, videos, projects, work, school, home chores and more. The opportunity for distraction is HUGE!
So how do we stay “single-minded” focus on the LORD in an arena where distractions are plenty? This week we’ll explore some suggestions and promises from the Bible to give us both some “HOW” as well as some “WHY.”
Here’s one place God encouraged people to start. Just be in the Words of God every day.
Deuteronomy 6:6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
God knew even people in Moses’ day would be distracted. He wanted them to keep his words at the forefront of their day, their conversation, and their homes. It was an encouragement to make his words part of their everyday routines. He wanted his words to embed in their hearts and lives so they could carry them wherever they went.
How would this look for you today? A verse of the week for your family? A conversation on the way to school? Reading a chapter when you sit down for breakfast or dinner? A picture on your wall as you come in your door which has a Scripture verse? A small hanging from your rear view mirror?
What was the promise that God gave his people to encourage them to stay focused on him and his commands:
Deuteronomy 6:17 Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.
20 In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” 21 tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. 24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”
This was a blessing for the people of Israel…God promises you blessing too as you keep him first. Find a way to do it today!
KEY VERSE: “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
Apply: What is one way you can start today to put the Word of God in front of your heart every day to help you stay focused on the Lord?
Prayer: Lord forgive me for the ways my heart and life are distracted from you. Help me with your grace and Spirit to stay focused on you every day! AMEN.
Studies referenced:
https://www.statista.com/chart/15224/daily-tv-consumption-by-us-adults/