Read His Words Before Ours!
Galatians 1:1-10
2 Timothy 4:1-5
2 Corinthians 11:1-6
Freedom, Day 1
Distraction
/dəˈstrakSH(ə)n/
1) a thing that prevents someone from giving full attention to something else.
2) a diversion or recreation.
3) extreme agitation of the mind or emotions.
Guys. I get distracted. Easily.
I can’t even claim ADD, I’m just distracted.
I have the very best of intentions, but for the love, I simply have the hardest of times focusing on finishing just one thing.
And since I’m being honest, can I just confess that one of my biggest “one things” is spiritual discipline?
Whether it’s sitting down to journal God’s Word, read it, or pray, the distractions come hot and heavy.
I have the very best of intentions.
Quiet time, rising early, memorizing Scripture, transcribing passages, prayer journals.
You would be astonished how many of my “quiet times” have been demolished because I couldn’t find a pen!
Then the children find me.
Then the quiet isn’t quiet.
Then that email pops up, that Facebook notification, oh I have to make that phone call, and what about dinner, or that gift I was going to buy for my friend?
In the whisper of a few blinks, time has passed and I’ve closed my Bible, moving into my day without a drop of time spent truly in His presence.
So close, but so far away.
All on my own strength, and none of His.
Ladies, we are embarking on an incredible journey through Galatians.
It’s full of beauty, of rich detail, and a million daily applications to our everyday life.
This book’s message of freedom?
We Need It!
We need to hear it, study it, and own it.
But first, we need to look our apathetic distractions square in the eye and speak out loud what Paul said to the Galatians.
(Go ahead, practice your astonished voice out loud right now… Do it!)
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him
who called you in the grace of Christ
and are turning to a different gospel”
Woah, what?!
I’m not turning to a different gospel!
I love Jesus, and hold his Word high!
That Creed study? Agreed right there with you at every point!
Deserting Him!?
Never.
Jesus is mine!
Consider the words of famous preacher, Charles Spurgeon:
“Ah! You know more about your ledgers than your Bible.
You know more about your daybooks than what God has written;
many of you will read a novel from beginning to end and what have you got?
A mouthful of froth when you have done!
But you cannot read the Bible;
that solid, lasting, substantial, and satisfying food goes uneaten,
locked up in neglect…”
“I charge you with this: you do not read your Bibles.
Some of you never have read it through.
I know I speak what your heart must say is honest truth: You are not Bible readers!
You say you have the Bible in your houses
(do I think you are such heathens as not to have a Bible?)
But when did you read it last?
How do you know that your spectacles, which you have lost, have not been there for the last three years?”
(Sermons of the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon of London)
My sisters, my friends, I am guilty of this.
I will glance at a verse a friend puts on Facebook, I’ll even soak up sermons on Sunday, I’ll read a devotional and skim the verses it points to,
but these are not reading the Bible, this is distracted browsing.
Here’s the reality, if we are so distracted that we cannot linger and saturate our souls with the real, raw, fullness of the gloriously freeing gospel, there is no way we can hold unswervingly to its fullness without slipping ever so slowly into “another gospel”.
It’s easier than you might think…
We get so distracted from the continual intake of solid Scripture because we love to be entertained.
The Bible was not given for our entertainment and will always fail to capture our attention if entertainment is all we seek.
Pinterest beckons.
Instagram lures.
And all social media aside….
Those dishes scream, the laundry wails, the emails, the spat with our spouse, the relationships with friends, the worries, the “not enoughs”……
All. So. Deafening.
All so distracting.
Hence, we’ve fallen prey to “another gospel”.
One where we are responsible for our own growth.
A gospel where we produce our own righteousness.
A gospel where we are our own god, we set the rules, and where there is no rest for the weary, only more performance.
We had the very best of intentions.
So close, but so far away.
All on our own strength, and none of His.
The gospel is this:
Christ crucified, buried, risen, and returning, all to pay a debt we never could, and restore a relationship we never had rights to.
It’s. All. Jesus.
There’s not a smidgen we can add to this glorious gospel truth.
Nothing we can do to earn His favor.
Nothing we can do to live victoriously on our own.
Nothing we can accomplish of eternal value by our own hands.
Nothing we can cling to in these voracious everyday moments of real, gritty life other than the pure, steadfast, solid, lasting, substantial, and satisfying gospel!
Commit now with me to cease the distractions.
Commit to feast fully on His delectable Word, studying Him in His fullness, in order that the pure freedom of the gospel might be unleashed in our everyday and transform us from the inside out!
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Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Freedom Week One! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
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This is a very current struggle for me right now. My world got disrupted and I have a hard time figuring out the rhythm. I struggle to make my time with God sincere rather than a check point on a list of all other things I must get done. Some days I find it, but most days I don’t. It’s a miserable place when the priorities get out of whack.
I’m so grateful for your authenticity! Re-discovering sincerity is a real struggle I’ve known frequently before. For me, I find freshness when I change up the quiet time with a different way of study or a new devotion book. My latest favorite tools have been John Piper’s “New Morning Mercies” and to read a section of scripture 3 times through and write down every discovery each time — I always find something new with every reading. His delights are fresh, but the discipline of discovering them is often found in sticking with it when the sincerity feels lost. Praying for… Read more »
I know that rut well, Charlotte. So thankful for His grace and patience with us. His quiet pursuit. Praying that in the midst of the changes, He lulls you(and me) into His rhythms.
I completely understand where you are coming from, Charlotte. I’ve been trying to create those quiet moments that I spend with Him throughout the day. Sometimes it happens, and sometimes it doesn’t. Some days I get to work a few minutes early and open up my Bible before I start my workday, allowing me to feel refreshed before another long day. And other times, I sit on the floor by my bed (because when my head hits the pillow I’m down for the count) and spend my evening with Him. Praying you find the rhythm.
I honestly can say I have NEVER truly studied God’s Word free from all distractions. Feasting on Him. Letting my soul be saturated with the fullness in His Words which is in God Himself. The way you described it, Rebecca, spoke to me so clearly. I have said to a couple of friends lately that my soul is hungry . . . filling in the blank with several different things that I thought it was hungry for…good things. BUT, my soul is HUNGRY for the undistracted presence of my LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ. He alone promises to satisfy every… Read more »
Love this so much, Pam! “Screaming flesh” what a good word picture! Praying for your journey into “distraction free worship” 💜
Every one of us relates to this, Pam. In retrospect, I am always amazed when I fall into the trap of my own making and push time in the Word to the back burner. The one, life giving thing that will refresh, give me wisdom and peace is often the first thing I cut or reduce from my schedule. Thanks for your transparency – love that we all connect in our weakness so His strength can shine through.
Great encouragement! I wish there was a like button. 🙂
Agree about the Like button! Ha!
Glad you were encouraged — it was convicting for me to write as I personally struggle so much with being distracted while true freedom awaits me on the other side of being still and leaning in to solid truth!