"Spiritual A.D.D."

"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."  Colossians 3:2

 

I believe the church is suffering from Spiritual A.D.D.  The dictionary defines it as:  a developmental disorder that is marked especially by persistent symptoms of inattention (such as distractibility, forgetfulness, or disorganization) or by symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity (such as fidgeting, speaking out of turn, or restlessness) or by symptoms of all three and that is not caused by any serious underlying physical or mental disorder.

Why would I say that it is my belief that the church is suffering from it?  Because we seem to be so easily distracted from our first love, from our commission, from our communion with the Lord, from our prayer time, from Christian disciplines, etc.  

What has caused it?  We have allowed the cares of this life to distract us.  We have let the lust of our own flesh, the desire for entertainment, the busyness of our calendars to cause us to be inattentive to the disciplines of prayer, Bible reading and studying, to church attendance, to witnessing, to giving alms, and so on.  We easily loose our focus on the things of God at the "drop of a hat".  One thought is all it takes to make us leave our prayer closet and do none of the spiritual graces.   

Do you have Spiritual A.D.D.?  This is a test to see if you do.Is your attention on fulfilling your grocery list more than it is on listening to the Spirit Who may want you to witness to someone in the store?  Do you go into your prayer closet and leave before you have prayed because your thoughts keep wondering to other things?  Do you quench the voice of the Spirit because you are involved in some activity and do not want to stop?  Do you neglect to read your Bible because your favorite movie is on?  Do you give up in your time of praise because all the thoughts of what else you need to be doing keep flooding your thoughts?  How many did you answer yes to?

What is the cure?  It is called "perseverance".  When you go to prayer and your thoughts are trying to captivate your attention, don't do what most of us do and give up and get up.  Capture those thoughts.  Bring them into obedience to the Lord.  Keep capturing them until you get victory over them.  Don't give up.  Keep pressing in and on.  You can win over them.  Greater is He that is in you than the thoughts that are distracting you.  When you do any thing, set your mind to first seek the Lord and don't let anything distract you.  Use your God-given authority and in the Name of Jesus pull down that distraction.  Do it as many times as you have to.  It is not greater than you are.  But you have to keep persevering.  The victory over it is yours. 

Have a great day.  Are you suffering from Spiritual A.D.D.?  There is a cure.  It is called "persevere and capture".