The way our brains are geared and our bodies are designed, we can only truly focus on one thing at a time. We might say we can check our Facebook and watch TV at the same time, but only one of the two will get our attention. Trust me I tried it last night! If we're reading our phone, we won't be able to fully understand what is happening on the TV show we're watching. This is a simple example that many people are guilty of nowadays. I will share with you a sobering statistic to help drive the point home that multitasking doesn't work. *In 2015 alone, 3,477 people were killed, and 391,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers. Distracted drivers include people distracted by many different things, including those texting or talking on cell phones while driving. But the reality of the statistic still stands. If we are not giving our full attention to our driving then we can be involved in an accident. If it wasn't the case hundreds of thousands of people each year wouldn't be injured by people multitasking.
This little fact about multitasking not working translates to our spiritual lives as well. There is an old saying that goes something like this, "You can't walk with God while holding hands with the devil." This drives home the point that we can't live a multitasking spiritual life. We have to make a choice and give our attention and allegiance to either God or to sin. If we put our faith in Christ and have a relationship with God through Christ's death on the cross, then our focus should be on Him instead of sin. We can't sit on the fence and lean back and forth between God and sin to appease what we want at a given time. We have to choose which one is going to be our focus and head in that direction. There are plenty of people out there who profess to be Christians but live like the devil. If we claim the name of Christ as our Lord and Savior, then we have to live up to His standards and expectations. This means living a life holy and pleasing to Him and living it out daily, not just when we feel like it.
A good example of making this decision and then sticking to it is found in the last pages of the story of Joshua in the Bible. Joshua was born a slave in Egypt. He watched as God delivered the Israelites from slavery and he walked on dry ground through the Red Sea. For the rest of his life Joshua watched as God was faithful and provided for himself and the Israelites. Joshua also spent his life in service to God. First leading Israel's army, then leading the nation after death of Moses. Not long before Joshua died, he gathered the nation of Israel together and gave them some words of wisdom. Those words put the people on notice and made them make a choice. This same choice is set before us every day. The choice Joshua gave them was to choose who they would serve. Would they serve the gods other people had worshiped or were worshiping or would they worship and serve the Living God of Israel. Joshua finished his statements by saying, "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15, NKJV).
Each and every day you have to choose who/what you will serve, who/what you will worship, and who/what will get your attention. If you try to multitask spiritually, then you will be like the proverbial man chasing two rabbits. You won't catch what you really want or what you really need. So take Joshua's challenge to heart today and decide who/what will get your undivided attention. Then make your decision tomorrow and all the days that follow. If you choose like Joshua did, you won't be disappointed.
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*www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving
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