Focus

.....greet no one along the way. Luke 10:4

These days I am finding that I need to be more and more mindful and intentional about tasks that I do. Speaking to friends of similar 'vintage', I am encouraged to find that I am not alone in this;it is too easy to get distracted along the way. Example: yesterday I put my porridge on to cook, (it only takes 5 minutes), then I went off and started cleaning the bathroom before my Bible study ladies arrived. Aagh! Suddenly, as I was about to move to yet another task, I remembered my porridge....just in the nick of time.

As I read Luke 10 today I was interested that when Jesus sent out the disciples in pairs to minister, he told them not to greet anyone along the way. I would have thought that they may have met 'the harvest' along the way!  Instead, he sent them to towns. They were not to stop and get distracted along the way. I also noticed that when Elisha's servant Gehazi, was sent to minister life to the widow's son, he also was told not to greet anyone along the way. In fact he was told not even to answer anyone who greeted him along the way.

When God assigns a task to us, he also gives us an anointing for the task.....his power and ability to carry it out. (We are never meant to operate in our own strength doing his work.) If we get distracted along the way, we may lose our focus. We can even get talked out of completing  our task, or at the very least, our distraction will certainly delaying it. The enemy will always plant 'good ideas' into our minds, or even put 'urgent needs' in front of us to distract us from our assignment. If we allow the distractions we may miss 'the moment', God's time.

The secret is to stay with what God has given us to do until the task is done. He has others assigned to meet other needs. Let's not rob them of their chance to serve by thinking we have to meet every need that comes before us.

Prayer: Father God, please help me to listen for my tasks today and do them without distraction. Help me to recognize distractions when they come and to resist the urge to 'greet them along the way'. Amen