Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:21
One thing God has been teaching me recently is the value of slowing down. Resisting the busy, hustle-and-bustle of life. Putting up safeguards against a frenzied, frantic lifestyle that is summarized by the word hurry. When I look at the life of Jesus, I never once get the impression that he is in a hurry.
While he had the most important task to accomplish in all of eternity, every time he got interrupted, he handled that interruption with grace and compassion.
In Jesus’ famous sermon on the mount, he said our hearts will follow our treasures. Usually, we interpret treasure to mean our two basic resources of time and money. But one author argues that an even more precious resource is our attention.
This same author goes on to say, “what you give your attention to is the person you become.” This is supported by a variety of scriptures, but one for quick reference is Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
Unfortunately, we live in a society where it is common to fill the void of inactivity with what we call “mindless activities”. Think about it. When standing in line at a grocery store, most of us are prone to immediately pull out our phone and fill that void with some type of mindless activity. The entire concept of boredom seems to be a by-gone era.
But when we fill our minds with these “mindless activities”, are we prohibiting an opportunity for communion with God? Our A-team has recently been discussing the idea of communion with God through prayer, and most of us admitted that this was not an area of strength in our lives. One thing God has been teaching me is that often times this is the case because my attention is regularly drawn to earthly things in order to fill the void, as opposed to using those moments to reconnect with my creator.
So, if you’re anything like me and can relate to the struggle of a busy, distracted life characterized by hurry, I encourage you to take a second look at Jesus and ask yourself, is this what his life was characterized by? This is a hard lesson I am learning, that admittedly is easier said than done. But join me in the fight to reclaim our minds and be intentional about directing our attention back to our creator, not the multitude of distractions that constantly pull at our minds and beg for our attention.
In Christ alone,
Caleb Hecox