But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.   2 Corinthians 11:3 HCSB

I want you to understand the context of this verse. False teachers had come into the church of Corinth and had begun to deceive the Christians there. Paul was warning the Corinthians and encouraging them not to be distracted by these false teachers. They were being distracted from a complete and pure devotion to Christ. Sound familiar?

I have never been diagnosed with, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), but sometimes it seems as though I am so easily distracted. Just this morning, I was attempting to go through my morning devotionals. But, I was having a hard time keeping my focus.

I opened up Facebook to read a devotional. Why didn’t I just type in the name of the person that does the devotional? Instead, I scrolled through to find it. I was distracted by pictures and posts and videos, oh my! By the time I finally got to the post I was looking for, I had wasted 30 minutes going through all this other stuff, all these distractions.

Once I read the devotion, I was distracted by still more things that had been posted. I just kept scrolling! Now, one thing I will say about my Facebook is that I get a lot of Scriptures and spiritual posts, so that’s not a bad distraction. But, we all know there are all kinds of other distractions that pop up on there. Did I really need to sit through the 10 minute video on how to keep bugs away?

Then, as I logged on to the internet, I got all these news feeds. I don’t watch the news for one reason, it’s all bad! But there I am intrigued by some of these headlines I am seeing. As my former pastor used to say, “I was sitting there just like a calf staring at a new gate.”

I was so frustrated when I finally saw how much time I had wasted. Wasted on what? Well, on a lot of things that simply don’t matter. Why do I even care if Brittany Spears wins her court battle or if Prince William and Prince Harry have things all worked out? What does this even have to do with me? Nothing, they are merely distractions. Those little things that try to stop me from doing what I need to do. Oh, I got it done alright, but it took way longer than I had intended.

The Scripture that kept coming into my head was 1 Peter 5:8 which says, “Be sober, be alert for the adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” The best way for the enemy to gain ground in fighting you is to distract you. As a small person in law enforcement, I’m a big fan of distraction techniques. If you can distract someone, it’s much easier to gain control of them. Think about this for a minute.

Has the devil thrown a flashbang into your day or your life? Are you so distracted by the flash of light and the loud noise  that you don’t even see what is happening right in front of you? The devil is very cunning, He employs many distraction techniques. Oh and when stress and troubles come our way, he tries to convince us that what we need is alcohol, drugs, pornography, gambling, adultery or any other addiction that distracts us from our troubles but brings on so many more. When the going gets tough, we need more Jesus, it’s that simple.

Just this morning, I realized how easily I am distracted. This means that I need to heed 1 Peter 5:8 all the more diligently. You can be sure that if you are trying to do something for the Lord, the devil is trying to distract you. Beware of these distractions, know they are coming and brace yourself against them. When you find the devil trying to distract you, you can simply say, “Not today Satan!” Pray and God will help you stay focused on Him. James 4:7 tells us to submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from us. In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus models this for us when He is being tempted by the devil in the wilderness.

Years ago Attention Deficit Disorder, or ADD, was a popular diagnosis. It seemed that every child with a behavior problem got labelled as having Attention Deficit Disorder. I have known many children who suffered with ADD who benefitted greatly from medication. I have also worked with many who were diagnosed with ADD, medicated and continued to be a behavior problem. There were times when my distractions led to behavior problems, but my dad had a cure for that.

Take a good look at yourself today. Maybe your behavior isn’t so good because you have allowed the devil to distract you. Turn to your heavenly Father, He has a cure for that.

Have a great day!