I am easily distracted. I’ll start on a project and my mind will start wondering to something else until I eventually forget what it was that I started doing. It is also easy to get distracted from leading a Godly life, from living the life God calls us to.
There are so many things trying to get our attention. For most of us men, it is easy to get distracted by a beautiful woman, and everyone knows that. It seems like almost everywhere I look, there is something or some image trying to get my attention. There is easy access to things that are not healthy, things that go against God’s teaching. All through the book of Proverbs, Solomon writes warnings about “the wayward woman” and the destructive path of following our desires. Maybe that “wayward woman” is a desire for popularity. Maybe it is a constant desire for more money. Maybe it is to be on top and have that feeling of power. Maybe it is chocolate. Maybe it is actually a wayward woman. It can be anything that takes our attention away from God.
Proverbs 7 is all about the deception and lies that draw our attention away from God. It is big business and as we go through time, we slowly become adjusted to it and it becomes “normal”. What used to be “unmentionable” is now shown in full view on prime time TV. Language that used to be banned from TV is now a part of our everyday language.
There is a song by Casting Crowns titled “Slow Fade” that addresses this very topic. When we see a marriage fall apart or a person do something we never thought they would do, it isn’t something that just happened. It is little decisions along the way over months or even years that lead to the failure of character. Civilizations and people never crumble in a day. We begin to accept behaviors that are counter to God’s teachings. Then we begin to celebrate those behaviors. Then it becomes a normal lifestyle and we don’t think anything about it.
Satan is winning the war because he is just moving that battle line an inch at a time and we either don’t notice or say “It’s just an inch, it doesn’t really matter. We need to be loving and accept the sinful people and so it’s o.k. if we start letting that creep into our lives.” We begin to seek out the approval of man rather than the approval of God.
Proverbs 7 starts out “My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers, write them on the tablet of your heart.”
God knows we are easily distracted. He knows we need the constant reminders. Satan does too. He has mastered that. As Christians, we need to keep the Word of God in front of us daily. That is how we overcome the slow fade.
This is a post from my Facebook series. Through the month of September, I have been reading and writing through the Book of Proverbs every day, one chapter a day. To follow this series, head over to our Facebook page and follow us there. Thanks, for reading.
Great thoughts on allowing our attention to slowly fade us into acceptance of sin.
Read yesterday about a shaving ad for women shaving bikini line and more along with a catchy phrase for our children to learn and repeat. Oh Brother! Like you said, what once was unmentionable progressed to where it is acceptable for all children to hear.
For society, has the slow fade ended and the acceleration begun?
Possibly, but the concerning thing is what is next? The exciting thing is that we know that if we continue to follow Jesus, we will ultimately be rewarded.