Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.   2 Timothy 2:3-4 NASB

A dear friend used to own a mechanics shop near our home.  A young man had been referred to work for them. I took my car by several weeks after he began working there and he was not there. When I asked my friend about him, she told me that he had spent too much time on his phone and not enough time working. Sadly these little hand held computers that we keep with us each day prove to be great distractions. When we are working or attending school we need to rid ourselves of the distraction. I will admit that I find it very annoying when I am trying to carry on a conversation with someone and they are busy communicating with others on their phone.

But it’s not just our phones that distract us. Often times the events of this life can prove to be a distraction. The devil consistently throws situations in our face that seem impossible for us to conquer. Now I want you to imagine something for just a minute here. Let’s say that you are in a situation where a police officer or soldier is guarding your life. Let’s say that there is someone trying to destroy you and this officer has been assigned to stand guard over you. But let’s say that this person is distracted and allows the enemy to get to you. That would be bad wouldn’t it?

When I ask my husband about something that he feels is none of his business (or mine either), his usual response is not my circus, not my monkeys. We should have this attitude about many of the things of this world that are designed to distract us from focusing on God. These distractions can become our idols and if you have read the Old Testament, then you know that idol worship caused those poor Israelites a lot of trouble.

Our scripture passage tells us that we are a soldier of Christ Jesus. We were put on this planet for two reasons, to have fellowship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to save others. Yes, no matter what your job may be, you were put here to save lives. You may think if you are not a first responder, then you are not supposed to be saving lives, but whether you are a librarian or a store clerk, you are here to save others from the fiery pits of hell. You can’t do this if you are distracted. It is easy to become distracted when we entangle ourselves in the things going on in the world.

To avoid distraction, we need to have a good understanding of what our role is. We need to know our job description. If you have not accepted Christ as your savior, then know that is what we are meant to do. Our lives may seem out of whack and the hard times are a lot harder when we live our lives separate and apart from Christ. If we draw near to Christ, He will draw near to us (James 4:8). We are told in Hebrews 10:22 that we are called to draw near to God. God will call us to Him so that we may be saved. It is God’s desire for all of us to be saved and to spend eternity with Him (1 Timothy 2:4).  If we accept this salvation, we become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17). We put off our old ways. We want to be filled with the Holy Spirit and we want to live for God. We want to be soldiers for Christ.

This changes our focus to heavenly things. When our focus changes, we are less likely to get entangled in the affairs of everyday life here on earth. We are not so easily distracted by the bad things we hear about in the news. We know that God’s got this. We need to be focused on our work that needs to be done while we remain here on earth.

We need to work on keeping a good, close relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to work at showing others the love of Christ. We need to work at using our God given talents. We need to work at serving God. We should always be working at leading others to Christ.

If you believe in God and you believe in the Bible, then you know these things. God will protect you (Psalm 91). He has good plans for you (Jeremiah 29:11). If you truly love Him and live your life according to the purpose He has set for you, then He will work all things out for your good (Romans 8:28).

So you need not worry your pretty little head about all the trivial things that go on in our world today, they are merely distractions. They are designed to cause us to lose faith. They are designed to make us worry. They are designed to distract us from what God is calling us to do.

What is our circus and our monkeys, so to speak, is our life with Christ. That’s our business to tend to. We should be focused on Him and the great reward that awaits us in heaven. We should be entangled in the work He has assigned us to do. If you have not received your assignment, then maybe you haven’t drawn close enough to hear Him, just sayin’.

We must be good soldiers and focus on Him. Do the work He has called us to do. Show Christ’s lovingkindness to those in need. When we do this, he takes care of all the rest.

Have a great day!