One day I was cleaning the garage when I remembered I needed to put the hose away in the yard. While I was unhooking the hose from the faucet, I remembered a call I had received and I had told the lady I would get a book to her in the mail that day. So, I put down the hose and went in the house to get her address off of the computer when I noticed some books on the dining room table. I couldn’t just leave them lying there, so while the computer was booting up, I started to put away the books. Before I finished with the books the phone rang and I was distracted again. At the end of the day I still had a cluttered garage, letters to be answered, books on the floor and a half rolled up hose in the yard. I was frustrated because nothing was accomplished. It seemed that every time I started to focus on a job I got distracted.

It was at that point that the Holy Spirit brought something to my remembrance. In Luke chapter 10, Jesus went to visit Martha and Mary. The Bible says that Mary sat at the feet of Jesus while Martha was distracted by all the serving she had to do. When Martha complained to Jesus about her sister who was sitting at His feet and appeared to Martha to be doing nothing, Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.”

It’s sad to say, but many Christians are like Martha. They are worried and troubled, distracted by the chores of life. So distracted, in fact, that they work all around Jesus doing all types of works. But sadly many times they are so distracted by the works that Jesus goes unnoticed.

Distraction is a major tool used by Satan. If he can only distract us for a short period of time, he can destroy a Christian witness that it has taken years to build. If he can distract the minister for just a little while, he can destroy a ministry. Many great men of God have fallen into ruin because of a moment of distraction.

But how does he distract the Christian anyway? Well, actually it’s usually pretty easy. He covers a lie with the appearance of truth and gets the distracted Christian to bite it. And when he sets the hook, he’s relentless and merciless.

A minister I had known for many years took his life. In a moment of distraction he believed the lie. All it took was just a moment and then it was too late.

Why am I telling you this? So you will understand one of the methods of the evil one and realize the importance of staying focused daily on Jesus. If we place our focus on Jesus, we will not be distracted and destroyed. Now I didn’t say to be focused on your church, your ministry, your pastor or your denomination. We must be focused on Jesus. Sometimes it’s so easy to get caught up on church things that we leave out Jesus.

Martha was going about the duties of preparing a meal for Jesus. That’s not bad. It was good for her to prepare a meal for Jesus. However, she became more focused on the making of the meal than on who the meal was for.