When God Wants To Get Your Attention | Pray For Eyes That See and Ears That Hear

a restaurant in New York City had a tremendous rating from customers when it came to their food and service in the early 2000s there were rarely many complaints however as time went on the biggest complaint became that their service was too slow the restaurant did some research and found that to be true the average time for service in 2004 was one hour and four minutes however in 2014 the average time for service became one hour and 55 minutes the owners were confused as they had not changed much over those past 10 years which would cause them almost to double their service time after looking back at the surveillance videos from 2004 to 2014 they believed the cause of the delay was actually the customers customers became so distracted by their cell phones that everything took longer including ordering eating and paying the bill the destruction of this cell phone had caused chaos for this restaurant distractions do the same thing in our Christian Life they cause chaos in our life by moving our eyes from looking toward Jesus to looking at sin we need to turn from Evil and look toward our beautiful savior Luke chapter 17 verse 30 to 33 says so will it be on the day when the son of man is revealed on that day let the one who is on the housetop with his Goods in the house not come down to take them away and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back remember Lot's wife whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it but whoever loses his life will keep it [Music] Jesus is talking to his disciples about his second coming he reminds us that his second coming will be like many Ordinary Day people will be going through their everyday routines then we get to verses 30 and 31 where Jesus tells us that we need to be prepared for that day and not be distracted these illustrations are stressing that people will have no time to prepare when he appears he then gives us the warning of Lot's wife in Genesis God comes to destroy the city of Sodom and Gomorrah due to their rampant sin before the destruction God comes and warns a man named lot and his family who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah God commands lot's family to flee and not turn back at some point as they flee Lot's wife looks back at the city in an instant she turns into a pillar of salt Jesus is warning us here not to be distracted like Lot's wife if we become so distracted by the world that we completely turn our eyes away from Jesus we will receive judgment just like Lot's wife when we make our lives about self-preservation we lose our lives to God's judgment however when we give our lives up to following Jesus we keep it to be clear there will be moments in life that distract us from Jesus but although every believer will stumble at some point and even fall those who continue fighting those who repent and go to Jesus Christ will receive forgiveness true Christian maturity is not that we don't sin but it's the fact that we turn our eyes back to Jesus when we fall short however many people have been so distracted by this world that they have never truly turned to Jesus on Judgment Day They will receive judgment like Lot's wife because they have completely turned and rejected God's love there are so many distractions in life that can cause us to turn our eyes away from Jesus sometimes we turn and look to bad things such as destructive substances forbidden relationships and lustful thoughts when we do we are looking to fulfill our own desires however these desires do not lead to the life that we think it will other times we're distracted by things that can be considered good we become distracted by our jobs families and hobbies while all these things are good when they force us to turn our eyes away from Jesus they become idols so we need to be on guard about any distractions in our life careful being preoccupied with how much money you make how successful your family is or how much power you have when Good Things become distractions that can be a massive hindrance in our walk with Christ now God is not calling you to leave your family or quit your job instead he calls you to put him at first and Center in your life he should be the focus and while it may feel like you're losing your life by turning from distractions to Jesus you're actually gaining life suppose the restaurant owners I mentioned at the beginning asked people to get off their phones while at the restaurant it would lead to much quicker service times what feels to the customers like a loss ends up being a game by getting off their phones they gain shorter meal times deep relationships with people they're eating with and a more enjoyable meal experience of course the customers have a choice to get off their phone however if they choose to lose a little they gain a lot the same is true when it comes to Turning from sin to Christ by turning away from sin we stop focusing on fulfilling every desire we have and the thing is we may lose some relationships with those around us and we lose the right to be king or queen of our life however we gain so much more we get to be called a child of God we get to inherit eternal life and we get to have a deeper intimate relationship with the one true God in the same way that customers in a restaurant have the option to get off the phone and focus on the ones they're with then we have the option to turn our eyes to Jesus so let me ask you what distractions do you have in your life right now that are blocking you from seeing Jesus it may feel almost impossible to give those distractions up but while it may feel impossible those in Christ have his spirits dwelling in them and by turning from our distractions to Jesus clears up the chaos and leads us to True Life second Corinthians 10 verses 3 through 6. for though we walk in the flesh we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal But Mighty in God for pulling down strongholds casting down arguments and every High thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God bringing every thought into captivity to The Obedience of Christ and being ready to punish all Disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled verse 5 says bringing every thought into captivity to The Obedience of Christ this means every thought in your life should be restrained it should be bound under the rulership of Jesus Christ saints of God the Battleground is the mind and so we need to be diligent when it comes to what goes on between our ears [Music]