Attend Upon the Lord Without Distraction 1 Cor. 7:35 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

1 Cor 7:35 is the only verse in the Bible that has the word distraction in it.  The end of the verse says, “and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.”  What a timely verse of scripture.  Let’s look at the implications of this passage in detail.  Notice that the exhortation is that we are to attend upon the Lord.  In other words, the Lord has something that he wants us to attend to each day.  And when we do these things, the Lord wants our undivided attention.  So, we are going to look at some of the things that can cause us distraction in attending upon the Lord.

Attend upon the Lord without distraction of:

Marriage – 1 Cor 7:32-34 – Paul shows us that it can be more difficult for a man and a woman to attend upon the Lord when they are married because they care for things that please each other.  And these cares can be a distraction.  So, he exhorts those who have no need to marry to remain single.  In marriage husbands and wives need to learn how to help each other attend to the Lord like Pricilla and Aquila did.

Cares – Mk 4:19 – The world keeps us constantly careful with taxes, appointments, bills, housekeeping, chores, hobbies, and the many details of life.  If you aren’t “careful” you will burn up all your time attending to these details and you will never be able to attend to the Lord.  That’s why Jesus and the disciples “traveled light.”

Thoughts – Matt 6:34 – We get so worked up over things.  Truly there are all kinds of things that mentally stress us out.  And it can be very hard to control our thoughts when we get worked up.  These kinds of thoughts can be very distracting, particularly when we get emotional.

Noise – Nah 2:4; Dan 12:4 – City life is never quite: sirens, trucks and cars, the whir of the computer fan, the television, the noise of industry, music in the restaurants, the chatter of the telephone, the chime of your phone when another call, email, blog post or text is pushed to you.  There is an endless stream of noise and distraction.  You get so used to it that silence makes you nervous.  So, the Bible says, Be still and know that I am God.  You must learn not to jump at every sound so that you can attend to the Lord.

Here’s how to deal with these distractions:

Don’t overdo lists – leave plenty of room for the Lord to show you what he wants you to do.

Don’t brood – when something is eating on you, you must pray and trust the Lord to give you the strength, wisdom, grace and peace to go on without getting trapped.  Let things go.

Get up early – this means that you need to go to bed earlier, too.  And when you arise, don’t check you phone or your email or the news or anything else.  Get with the Lord in prayer and Bible reading.

Balance your time – give time to your family, give time to your work, give time to your health, and give time to the Lord.  Keep all these in balance.

Don’t waste time – as soon as you get started on something like the internet, television, a movie or some magazine, realize that the time you devote to that is going to take away from the balance of those things above.  Something has to give.  Most of the time what gives is that to which the Lord wants you to attend.

Pray – it is never a waste of time to stop what you are doing and pray.  It is the greatest way to sort all this stuff out.