Undistracted
Have you ever felt like you weren't free?
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. - John 8:31-36
The disciples of Jesus were confused. He told them the truth will set them free, but they already knew they were free, or at least they thought they were.
We all have a free will. We can choose our actions and our destiny, but Jesus tells us that sin takes away that freedom. It enslaves us, replacing our free will with desire and self-indulgence.
We often think of sin as breaking the rules, but what Jesus is talking about is more than that. It is more like following the wrong leader or taking the wrong path.
When we put our desires and needs above all else, we can become overly focused on what pleases us, rather than what is good or our soul.
One way to look at sin is that it is a distraction. It is anything that takes our focus away from God.
Now that can sound ominous. Surely we are not supposed to be thinking about God 24/7, are we?
No, but if we don't make a conscious effort to devote some time to God, eventually, we will have no time for God, and we will be totally alone.
So, sin is anything that pulls us away, and keeps us from coming back.
It is a distraction, and through the many distractions of our day, we become slaves to the world, believing we are committed to pleasing a world that is never satisfied with what we do for it.
God is different. God accepts every moment devoted to Him as precious and true.
We don't have to do anything but be in God's presence. For when we choose to have God present in our lives, we choose a life that is full. Everything looks different through God's eyes.
And God invites us to see clearly through Him.
That is what makes us truly free.
We can choose to be undistracted.
More to come...