Attention to God’s Word Deficit Disorder

ATGWDD

Psalm 86:11

Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your Name.

Romans 12:2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

   Have you ever tried to study Attention Deficit Disorder?  The doctors who write about this should be arrested for torturing the English language.   They use oversized words and tangled sentences to make you impressed with their knowledge of this disorder.  And by the time you finish, you’ll probable self-diagnose yourself with many of the symptoms.  What might escape you in the jungle of words is that there is a real condition that affects some people and causes them to have difficulty concentrating.  Their minds wander from interest to interest and they lose focus on what’s right in front of them.  Not just school children are afflicted by this, but many adults suffer from this as well.

   There is a still-unclassified disorder that afflicts many in the Christian church today.  It’s ATGWDD – Attention to God’s Word Deficit Disorder.  We are distracted by things and find little or no time to read God’s Word.  God expects our full attention – a difficult demand in a multi-tasking, multi-media culture.  Reading the Bible is a bore, and besides, I’ve got 2 movies here I haven’t seen yet and everybody’s talking about them at work so I need to see them so I can talk about them, too.  Then the phone rings, and off I go on a long conversation that takes up more time.  Now it’s time to go to bed and I will get up and do this all over again tomorrow.  Sorry God, maybe I’ll get a few minutes to read something on Saturday, after I mow the lawn and wash the car.   

   We let so many things distract us during our day, God gets pushed aside and ignored.  After all, He understands how busy I am, right?  He knows there are so many things going in my life I have to address that He really should be grateful I give Him and His Word five minutes a couple of times a week.  After all, I’m not a monk or a fanatic; I have a real life to live.

   We make so many excuses, yet they just don’t cut it.  We come up with these excuses to sooth our conscious, but do you really think God is buying them?  Umm, probably not.  He is still calling you to a deeper walk with Him and it’s really in your best interest to give Him some of your time every day.

   Now I know things come up that we have to deal with, but hardly as often as we like to pretend.

   In the Bible we read that King David also struggled with spiritual focus.  He cried out “unite my heart” - another translation says, “give me an undivided heart.”  God will give us an undivided heart if we will disengage from the rat race and get quiet and study and meditate on His Word.

   Bible study is hard work and requires commitment.  It’s a choice we must make.  We must get back to the basics of a true relationship with God.  Prayer, worship, and time in God’s Word combine to produce an environment where He can be heard and known.  Only then will we experience a renewed mind.  Only then will we see our faith strengthened.  I challenge you to spend ten minutes a day in your Bible.  Just ten minutes.  I’m not asking for a sacrifice of time here, I’m not asking for you to jump into the deep end of pool all at once.  Just dip your feet in and get them wet and see that the water is warm and inviting.  Ten minutes. 

Stephen Cram                                July 13, 2014                                   

Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with Christ. 

Visit my pastor’s blog at http://pastorjonrhinehart.blogspot.com/.

Unless otherwise noted all Scripture is from the New King James Version of the Bible.