-Gavin Aleogho
In the bid to make ends meet, we are drawn away from God by a lot of things that crave our attention. If we don’t call ourselves to order on time, we may suddenly realise that we have only laboured for meat that perishes.
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For our Lord Jesus said; “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.”
John 6:27.
Besides the distractions that come due to the pursuit of life to make ends meet, it is important to also know that we can also be living a distracted life away from God in the name of Religious Activities and still be thinking that we are living to please God just like Martha the sister of Mary and Lazarus. The funny part about the latter is that it is done in the name of God; hence it is very difficult to spot.
The question then is, when does what we do in the name of the Lord shift our attention from the God whom we claim to be serving?
This happens when we forsake our intimate Personal Walk with God for mere activities.
It is important to know that God loves and appreciates our religious activities. But beyond that, the Lord values and appreciates our personal walk with Him more than any act of service we can do for Him.
Come to think of it, what can you really give to the One who created the whole universe? That was Martha’s error. The Lord who could feed 5,000 men on one spot was present and Martha never considered that. God wants you more than whatever you can give to Him. He wants you to spend time with Him privately; that is the best thing you can give to God.
Despite his commitment and busy schedule, David understood this truth. That is why he wrote: “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.” (Psalms 27:4).
Secondly, our attention is shifted from beholding the Lord when our motive of doing religious activities becomes impure; filled with lust, pride, personal desire and personal gain rather than the gain of the Master.
Our motive for doing religious activities becomes impure when we do acts of Christian service as a bargaining chip, to get God to do something for us. It also becomes impure when we act out of compulsion or out of eye-service instead of acting from a heart of love for God and the expansion of His Kingdom.
As simple as working in the vineyard of God; that should not stop our unwavering devotion to God. We should never forget that our primary devotion is to God first, after then, comes our ministries or anything we want to do for God. Our priority in life should always be put right or our lives would not be rightly built.
"And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,"
Mark 3:14
As you run the race that is set before you, one question you should always ask yourself is this, “am I being distracted or devoted to the Lord?”
