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Bethel Mennonite Church - Gladys VA

A Conservative Christian Church (and podcast)

The Sin of Distracted Living

February 23, 2020

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Luke 10:38-42 – Distraction is something that we all face, distraction something that prevents us from giving attention to something that is more important. This passage is the story of Mary and Martha.

Mary sat and listened, she continued to focus on Jesus and hear His words. Martha was distracted, or troubled with much serving. The things that she had to do distracted her from what was important.

Momentary distractions break our attention for a little and its often difficult to get our minds back on track after the distraction. At other times important things are encroaching on our ability to focus on other important things.

Distractions take our attention away from something and we miss something important.

Mark 4:10-12 – Jesus often shared truth in such a way that wasn’t hard to understand but wasn’t necessarily a direct statement. The parables are examples of this. We can’t just hear a few words, we need to focus and think about what we are hearing to understand and receive the truth that God is speaking to us.

Distractions keep us from thinking. Our relationship with God requires some deep thought, reflection, thinking. It is often difficult the older we get to spend the time with God, or to focus when we do have our time with God.

John 15 – Jesus says that we are to abide permanently with him, to be plugged in to the vine. Walking with God requires an ongoing relationship and focus.

When we are distracted during worship, part of the reason is that we fail to recognize and appreciate how great God is. Perhaps we have a more casual relationship with God than we should.

Another reason we get distracted sometimes is that Gods work takes time. We want immediate results, but God very rarely works that way these days. It starts to feel like work.

The deeper my faith is with God, the more I want to pay attention because I believe he is going to work. The opposite can also be true. As we struggle with our focus on God it changes the impact that his truth has on us.

The less we focus on God the less his truth seems applicable to my situation.

How Can We Improve Our Focus?

We need to recognize when distractions are a problem for us. We won’t be able to escape distractions but we can recognize that distractions can and are a problem and affect our relationship with God and others.

What do our distractions say about our relationship with God. Is it a selfish desire? Do we need to repent and crucify it? Ask God for help, He was tempted in all points like we are, He is no stranger to the things we face here on earth.

Luke 12:15-21 – Distracted living, with a focus that is wrong, is dangerous. This man had a misguided view of life, he was living purposefully, he was invested, but he was focused on the wrong thing. If our eyes aren’t fixed on God, we are focusing on the wrong things.

The danger of living distractedly is that we can feel like we’re doing the right thing when we aren’t.

What can we do to keep our focus right? Take time and evaluate in prayer what is most important to us. What are we investing our time in? Would Jesus here in my shoes what would he be doing? Ask Jesus which way to go. We want to chart a good course from the start, but we need to be willing to “re-chart” our course and course correct as we go on through life.

Related Sermons:


  1. Living Life with Purpose – Session 1
  2. Root Out the Thorns in Your Life
  3. Living Life with Purpose – Session 5
  4. How God Speaks to Us & How We Hear God
  5. An Unfaltering Focus

Filed Under: Jeff Yoder, Sunday Morning Message Tagged With: John, Luke, Mark

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