My ADD vs God

Happy Sunday. Today I've titled this sermon my ADD versus God. No, I've not been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder yet. I'm easily distracted in times when I should be focused on the Almighty.

I know the answer to this question before I ask it. Have you ever been praying and then all of a sudden you're thinking about your grocery list or the project you have on your desk or the lyrics to a song? My guess is that you know exactly what I'm talking about. I have argued for years that one of the devil's greatest weapons is distraction.

The devil truly wants to keep us away from God. That's his job. We don't have to go far in scripture to find an example of this. I want to read the first few verses from Genesis chapter 3.

You probably know this story very well. There we are told the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. And one day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?" "Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden," the woman replied.

It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we're not allowed to eat. God said, "You must not eat it or even touch it. If you do, you will die." "You won't die," the serpent replied to the woman.

"God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you'll be just like God, knowing both good and evil." You know the rest of this sad story. In that moment, the devil planted a seed in Eve's brain, and all she could think about was that tree in the middle of the garden. We learn of the tree in chapter 2.

I begin with verse 15. The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, "You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die."

Now, according to the Genesis account, this instruction was given to Adam before Eve was created. I have no doubt that Adam told Eve to stay away. But she got distracted and he too became distracted. She ate.

He ate. This distraction ruined this world. Think about it. Adam and Eve had all this world to explore.

The garden was perfect. All they had to do was to be fruitful and multiply. They had thousands of trees to pick from. And yet, Satan planted a seed in their mind that would not go away.

Today, Satan tries the same with all of us. Not too long ago, I had a song stuck in my head that even interfered with my sleeping. I was distracted. So, what are we to do?

How do we focus on what really matters? How do we avoid distraction? 1 Peter 5'8 warns us there. It says, "Discipline yourselves.

Keep alert. Like a roaring lion, your adversary, the devil, prowls around looking for someone to devour. Let me repeat that. Discipline yourselves.

Keep alert like a roaring lion. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around looking for someone to devour. It might as well say someone to distract. Discipline is the weapon to use against distraction.

Proverbs 5:22 and 23 says, "The iniquities of the wicked ens snare them, and they are caught in the coils of their sin. They die for lack of discipline, and because of their great folly, they are lost." As believers, we must develop many disciplines in order to grow. We must be disciplined to eliminate the distractions and to move in the right direction.

Scripture should be our guide. Psalms 119:105 teaches us that God's word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. It will show us the way. Are you disciplined enough to be in the word of God?

The great preacher RC Sprruel said, "Here then is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God's word. Not so much because it's difficult to understand and not so much because it's dull and boring, because it is work." He says, "Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion.

Our problem is that we are lazy. Our problem is a lack of discipline." Back to the garden and the devil's distraction. Most Christians I know have a desire to know God's word, and many that I know also lack the discipline to actually know it.

In this day and age, there are so many distractions. You and I both know people, some that are very disciplined to avoid them and some that aren't. I had the great privilege recently to reconnect with an old college friend. He loves Jesus and he has devoted his life to Christian service.

He's one of the most disciplined people you'll ever meet and God has used him in a great way for kingdom work. When we were together, my mind went back 45 years or so to the time when we were on campus together. And I thought about other people. We had a common friend who lived a different life.

He flirted with Jesus and he had so much potential, but he was distracted by other things. Again, he had so much promise, yet he was distracted because of horrible decisions. He lost his family and his career and his reputation and his health and he died a few years back. Distraction from what really matters is a disaster and it always will be.

Ask Adam and Eve. Pray with me. Lord, help us to be disciplined to avoid those distractions that keep us away from you. Help us to make a difference in a big way for your kingdom.

It's in Jesus name I pray. Amen. God bless. Have a great week.