LEARNING DAILY

 

1 Peter 5:8, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

 

I know there are some who read this blog do so without receiving it through an email; you will not get the benefit of seeing the picture I am sending with this page. I will try to describe the visual as I write. For those who receive the blog through email – well, you will understand.

 

From time to time, I have written about the lessons our cat, Ranger have provided me. Once again, he has provided another one. Each of us must be alert and vigilant about our walk on the narrow way because our adversary is always looking for ways to “disrupt” our walk with Jesus. Peter compares him to a roaring lion or in this case a purring cat wanting to draw our attention away from walking with Jesus.

 

Ranger will often jump up on my desk, flop down on my laptop and demand my attention. Sometimes, he causes problems when I am writing the blog. I have become pretty attentive to where he is when he comes into the room (alert and vigilant!) and usually close the laptop. Look at the picture closely and you will see that is exactly what happened here. On this day I was done with the blog and was reading/studying God’s Word. Ranger started on the closed laptop and soon moved to where you see him. His “roar” was a small purring and I had to spend time scratching or petting his favorite spots – his head and the area under his ears. I believe today he stayed almost an hour.

 

I bet all of us have those things that try to distract us from walking the narrow way as God desires. By distractions I am talking about those things that shift our attention away from something of great importance to something of lesser importance. I am talking about those things that draw our attention from the greatest Object – God – to those things that really do not mean very much. I believe the Bible calls that idolatry. But not all distractions are due to this.

 

Do you remember the story when Jesus was in the home of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:41-42)? Martha was distracted from Jesus as she was busy serving her guests; Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus taking in every word He spoke. Martha was making sure her guests were being taken care of and did not realize her distraction until Jesus pointed it out to her. She thought she was doing the right thing, but she had shifted her attention from the greater to the lesser.

 

It is easy to get distracted by busyness of life, isn’t it?! I cannot help but think we need to make sure our priorities are right. Believe me, I am pointing more fingers back at myself than I am at anyone else. Distractions are important reminders about how weak we are; we must be alert and vigilant about staying close to Jesus as we walk the narrow way. Let those distractions force us to humble ourselves and seek Him to give us the help we so desperately need to grow in our struggles with distraction.  

 

I need to get busy, to read/study and say a prayer while Ranger is outside!