15 minutes of Bible study
30 minutes of a feel-good secular playlist to work
8 hours of work with a pinch of office gossip
2 hours of a power workout with the help of a secular gym playlist
30 minutes of dinner with a side of Netflix
2 minutes of prayer with a touch of thinking of what to do after this prayer
1 hour of TikTok/Instagram dopamine which turns to 2 hours
Lights out
I don’t want to make this post long; I want it to succinct and to the point, so we spend more time meditating on this. On the audio blog, there will be one more minute dedicated to quiet meditation and prayer.
Your day may look like the list above or maybe not: The point is, it is very easy to become pre-occupied and out of touch with the deeper part of your spirit. How much of our day do you dedicate to secular culture. I understand maybe you need a gym playlist that gets you pumped, as you lift weights. Maybe you need your feel-good playlist to get you to work as you anxiously go there. Or maybe you are like me, you love a good show, Gilmore Girls and Vampire Diaries are my choice when doing any chore that requires at least five minutes of my time. Today we want to invite the Holy Spirit to convict us on the areas we have become pre-occupied.
Dear Lord, thank you for your presence and your goodness. Lord, we realize and regret that as the year has progressed, we have let our eyes focus on other things. Lord, please help us to live for you and we can only do this through you. We need your help to go back.
I have to admit, I have been distracted. Being busy has become a badge of honor for me. Being busy has become an excuse to forsake my responsibility to God. My pastor said when we assume busyness, the first thing to suffer is our time with God. She was right, my busyness has affected God while the rest has benefited.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, I’d like to submit to you the side effects of being preoccupied.
Recurrence of Sin
“Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.”
James 1:14 NLT
To further use help us understand the meaning of this I would like to take you back to King Solomon. When you have time read 1 Kings 10-11. Here we see a king who God chose and bestowed wisdom and wealth, amazing right. King Solomon loved the women; oh he loved the women. He initially took one wife, who did not even believe in our God. He took another wife and maybe another concubine by the side, it was harmless, he still loved God. God in Deuteronomy said a king must not take many wives for himself because this would turn his heart away from God.
However, King Solomon did not listen, because after all God did say be fruitful and multiply, right? Before he knew it, he was worshipping Ashtoeth, the goddess of fertility who desired child sacrifice, before he knew it, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. This started because His focus shifted.
My question to you is, what sin have you allowed to fester and co-exist with you.
For transparencies sake, I love Netflix guys. I love watching a good show all the time during the day to help me get through mundane tasks. However, before writing this I had to delete all my streaming platforms so I can go back to being able to sit with God and listen for Him.
Do you smoke weed because it calms you, do you watch a show with explicit and sexualised content but swear you have it under control, yet you battle lust and masturbation. What is your poison that has captured you attention and has become a window for in. Since I have been in your business, allow me to offer you a verse to encourage you.
“Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again.”
Revelation 3:3 NLT
Instability
“But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.””
Matthew 7:26-27 NLT
I have always heard this parable and have taken it as just I need to have a firm foundation and never internalised it. However, Jesus was right, as always. If we are not careful we stand the risk of being easily swept by the wind.
This instability comes in the form of anxiety, sins you’ve been freed from creeping or in. If we plant ourselves on Christ, we are people who stand in with longevity in this walk with Christ.
As the year has come halfway, we have all set resolution and the motivation we had in the beginning is starting to fade off. That is okay, we are here to go back to God together. I am putting some verses below to remind us of the importance of going back to God and that He desires us.
Remember that:
“True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? Of course not!”
Romans 3:3-4 NLT
Your unfaithfulness will never nullify God’s faithfulness. It is not possible.
Recommended Scripture and Media for A Call to Refocus on Jesus
“My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” Psalms 27:8 NLT
““But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do.” Isaiah 43:18 NLT
“How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word.”Psalms 119:9 NLT
“I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.” Psalms 40:8 NLT
“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.” Psalms 51:10 NLT
Hosana- Hillsong United, Brooke Ligertwood
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