This week I’ve been reading “Essentialism” by Greg Mckeown. It’s an interesting book on the idea of being what he calls “an essentialist.”

Basically the essentialist is someone who rejects many other good (but non-essential) things so that they can focus on one or two truly essential things.

Reading this book reminded me of a very sad truth….

We are very good at wasting time!

The truth is this isn’t totally our fault. Things like technology (social-media in particular) are created to consume our time. What begins as a few minutes of scrolling through a news feed can quickly become thirty or more!

Christians today must have a strong focus, because we are constantly distracted.

Satan doesn’t want us to achieve the plan of God for our lives. So he doesn’t try to get us to quit serving the Lord (that would be too obvious). Instead Satan will focus our attention on something else (often a good thing) and draw us ever so slightly off of God’s path.

What begins as a slight movement from God’s plan becomes a serious drift. Like the current of the ocean, these distractions draw us far away from the Lord without us even realizing it.

These constant distractions create people who are very busy, but don’t really accomplish anything!!

As Believers we must reject these distractions that draw us away from Gods plan. This comes first by having a VERY CLEAR idea of what God wants us to accomplish. Clearly defined goals give us something to focus on with all our energy. This singular focus helps reject distractions.

Rejecting distractions also means removing what draws us away from God’s plan. This is hard because often these are forms of entertainment, or something we genuinely enjoy. Yet the hard work is worth it because these distractions waste more and more of our precious time or energy.

Scripture clearly calls us to be focused and purposeful so that with the Apostle Paul we can say “I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” This demands that we stop investing our lives in things that promise happiness, but actually a waste it.