Day 2865 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Proverbs 4:25 NIV

The distractions in this world never cease. They will never cease. All of the wayward priorities and interests and ideas and promises and hopes and illusions and lies and pressures will never stop. In a world so in love with things like self and sin and the satisfaction placed in both, folks will simply never run out of new things to chase after and tell others about. Just goes to show why our ability to remain focused on our faith is of utmost importance.

Because as we walk through the rest of our time here, we will be bombarded with many things from many different directions and many different people all aiming for the same outcome: Our stumbling.

You know, I think most of us still hold this kind of passive hope in humanity and for the world in which we live. We still like to assume the best if at all possible. We still can't fully bring ourselves to admit that much of the world and the things done in it are truly bad, let alone despicable, let alone dangerous. Rather, we tend to approach life through a glass-half-full point of view that has us continually under this assumption that best interests are still of concern and consideration.

Well, as lovely as that would be, the overwhelming majority of evidence throughout history shows that humanity is incredibly prone to false hope. History tells us of countless cultures that were built upon this guise of power and authority that people undoubtedly placed their faith in that ultimately let them down and therefore led them astray. Since time itself began, humans have held hearts impossibly bent toward wandering. And we’ll find no shortage of reasons and excused to make doing so seem completely harmless.

That’s why we must understand that as long as we're surrounded by people who are still caught up in following the ways of this world we're living in, we will also be surrounded by influences trying to pull us into the fold of those foolish fallacies that only promote the downfall.

None of this is anything new, it's just still pretty new to us considering how long we've tried to hope for the best and how hard we've tried to assume that a civilized society wouldn't conceal hidden dangers or insincere motives or impure aspirations. But if there's one thing we can truly count on in a place where sin is not only incredibly widespread but also incredibly adored, it's that much of what's considered "civilized" is nothing but a hollow attempt to make the filth look a little prettier than it actually is.

Make no mistake, though we be in a world where advancement is ever occurring, riches are ever available, enjoyment is ever possible, and comfort is ever increasing, that doesn't mean that we're getting better as a species. Just because we have cars that drive themselves and dinners delivered to our doors and advancement in science and technology rendering yesterday's pinnacles all but obsolete, that doesn't mean we're getter better.

Just because we live in a time when we're constantly told to chase our dreams and live our best lives doesn't mean that those dreams and best lives need to be based on this soil. Just because we're constantly offered the latest and greatest of everything doesn't mean we should willingly partake. Just because sin is being peddled in new ways every single day doesn't mean that we should participate.

Just because humanity is always finding new ways to pat themselves on the back doesn't mean that we too should turn a blind eye to the weaknesses and shortcomings that should absolutely be addressed should we actually care to better ourselves, let alone actively follow this one called Christ. Just because we live in a world of endless distractions and reasons to pursue them doesn’t mean that we should take our eyes off of the prize to which we’ve been called in Christ Jesus.

My point is that we're surrounded by a million things with a million voices sending a million messages all aimed at luring us into making this world our home and its ways our ways and its priorities our priorities and its lies our truths. We are passing through a wasteland filled with the lost who think themselves found just because they've found ways to make the wasteland look lavish. To say that we need to be on our guard is an understatement in a place such as this.

In truth, we need to be so focused in and on our Savior that nothing in and of this world dares attempt to register as anything close to important in our hearts or minds.

This path we're called to follow, the path paved by the baby we just celebrated, the path those faithful who've gone before us held to, is incredibly narrow. We've all heard sermons and messages and seen posts and reminders of the narrow vs wide. Gates and paths and roads and lives all lived according to a choice between either the wide or the narrow. We've known of this difference and our need to choose for a long time now.

But what I don't think any of us understand is the true measure of the two options. I don't think we realize just how wide and easy and normal and crowded the wide road really is that leads to destruction. And too, I don't think we've begun to understand just how narrow and lonely and confined the narrow path be that leads to life. I don’t think we realize because we don’t want to truly consider it. We don’t want to try and fathom just how real, how serious, how dangerous our time here really is.

No, for the most part, we just like to hold to that happy-go-lucky, glass-half-full, hope the best and assume the worst simply isn’t possible kind of mindset.

But, no matter our preferences for assumption, the truth of Scripture has spoken and we are responsible for choices made with the knowledge we’ve been given.

Yesterday we discussed the vast importance of quiet time spent in conversation with our Father. The necessity of prayer is among the greatest of undervalued and underestimated priorities in life at any given time. We have no problem making time for life and the surprises and desires and demands that it holds. We have no problem feeling our heads bounce back and forth from left to right looking all around us for something in which or with which to fill our time.

We have no problem kneeling to this world’s distractions. And that is without question something that truly needs to change as we head into what has been assured us to be a very wild finish up ahead. Now, no, we don’t know when the end is coming. But we do know that it’s coming. And that sliver of awareness of our lack of concrete knowledge should speak volumes as to how stern our focus on our preparedness should remain.

Truth be told, even if we had another hundred years apiece, it wouldn’t be enough time to ensure we’re ready for the final crumbling of all that’s been falling apart. We don’t have time to keep playing like life is a game. We don’t have the luxury of pretending that this is our home or that our time in it is limitless. We don’t have time to continue combing through a world made of dust and ashes looking for something of value to take with us along this eternal ride.

We do not have time to bounce through our limited time here assuming the best and never giving any consideration the warnings of the worst that will inevitably unfold.

Now, much of society will do just that. They’ll carry on living this party of a life in which nothing is off limits, because hey, the wide road is plenty broad to accommodate any and all desires. Many will choose to afford themselves the ease of never having to accept responsibility. Many will ignore the warnings and truths laid forth in Scripture. Many will simply remain blind to the light and further their comfort in the dark illusions of sinful living.

But, if we are to be who we claim we want to be, Christians i.e. followers of Christ, then we ought to adhere ourselves and our lives to His message given in Luke 9:62 where He tells us that, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” No looking back to see what we leave behind. No looking around to see what everyone else is doing. No bouncing our gaze between worldly offerings and idols. No teetering between the here and the later. No wavering, no wandering, no time given to anything that might cause a single root to be planted in this passing soil.

Friends, each of us are incredibly guilty of failing in this call. Blame it on a world filled with distractions or hearts prone to wandering or eyes simply allured by the pretty, shiny, exciting things all around us. Whatever the cause and reason, all that really matters is that we learn the lessons and apply them to our choices as we move on.

Contrary to common believe as evidenced through the typical way in which the vast majority of society clearly exists, we don’t need a bunch of things to give our lives meaning. We don’t need homes filled with cute little nick-knacks to show that we had a passion in life. We don’t need a million fans or followers who are able to testify that we cared deeply for the messages we shared. We don’t need a riveting recount of a life filled with exciting experiences that grant us a legendary status to those who come after we’ve gone.

All we need to make our lives whole is an unrelenting focus on the One who came to this world to remind us that we’re alive. All we need is an internal fire that burns endlessly that propels us ever forward into the narrow gap to which we’ve been called. All we need are hearts focused solely on looking directly ahead toward the fulfillment of a promise we couldn’t possibly find in this world.

All we need is an adamant refusal to let this world convince us we’re already home.

As I said to open today’s post, the distractions in this world never cease. We will continue to face an onslaught of things and options and ideas and lovely opportunities to find comfort and success and acceptance while we are here. But, here shouldn’t be where we aim to stay. And if we’re not planning on staying here, then it’s just not worth being distracted by anything here.

We have been told of a place that Christ has gone to prepare for us. Perhaps we should prepare for that place as well. Perhaps the storing up of treasures is only best done through prayer and trust and study and devotion to our faith and the One it is placed in. Perhaps we should allow ourselves to consider how narrow this path will be, because it’s only then that we can begin to understand just how solid our focus on the finish line should really be.

Look straight ahead friends. No behind, not beside, not up or down or any direction other than straight down the narrow road that Christ came to walk before us. That’s where we should be going, and considering how many things are trying to pull us off that tiny path, I think it’s safe to say that it’s worth our every effort to refuse to give this wicked world the satisfaction of succeeding in that effort to drag us away from a promise we simply do not want to miss but most certainly will should we allow this place to distract us just enough to cause our feet to slip and our souls to stumble off the path that is sure to grow increasingly narrow.

We will have to focus more than we’re able to do so at the moment. Best we get to practicing!

#LeaveNoSoulUntold