During World War II NAZI High Command was obsessed with U.S. General George S. Patton. Patton’s strategic brilliance and never surrender attitude had defeated the NAZI’s in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. He was perhaps the only Allied general Hitler and the High Command feared. Because of this fear and respect, they were 100% convinced he would lead any Allied landing in France. They dismissed reports that Patton had been suspended from duty, and focused all their attention on Patton’s movements. As report after report came in that the Allies were amassing a huge force to invade Normandy they dismissed it, because their intelligence said Patton was in another part of England. Hitler and the High Command remained so distracted by Patton that they missed all the obvious signs of an invasion, and were caught severely off-guard. In fact, some generals continued to insist that the Normandy invasion was a distraction from an eventual Patton-led invasion for days after the invasion.
Had Germany not been so distracted by Patton, history may have looked a lot different. We have a similar problem when it comes to following Christ in our lives. We know what we are supposed to do, but we get distracted from doing it. Our lives become filled with hobbies, jobs, friends, family and various other things we like, and we take our eye off our main objective: being Christ followers. This is the point of the following passage:
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42
Like our hobbies, jobs, friendships, families, and various other “likes” in our lives, Martha’s focus on readying the house was not in itself bad. The problem was that it took her focus off of spending time with Jesus. Men, I feel we are facing a crisis of distraction today. We get so focused on a mountain of “stuff” in our lives that we totally forget to spend time with Jesus. We get distracted from serving Him, learning from Him, and listening to Him. The more we get distracted, the more liable we are to miss opportunities to bless others and to receive blessings. Don’t miss the good God has planned for you. Name your distractions this week. What is keeping you from your maximizing your relationship with God? What do you need to do to minimize those distractions so that you can experience the fullness of God’s love and plan for your life?
