Discipline – Antidote for Distraction

Distractions – innocent necessity of life or voluntarily scooping up fire. There are certain of those proverbial sections that seem to, for many, evoke tsunamis of guilt. Proverbs 31 for many women, both other less outspoken portions as well. Proverbs 6 – for those who Joan Webb might say are running on perfectionism and super mom unrealistic and perhaps even unhealthy drives – read it and see no sleep or slumber to be free. Work harder to be wise. Keep trudging along carrying weights like the ant to prevent sluggard tendencies. Commands are a lamp, teaching is a light, discipline (with its corrections) is the way to life. Let these ideas even as you sleep speak to you while awake or asleep.

 

For many people, the Chinese acrobatic plate show is as close as they feel to discipline. Do one thing great one day, the next ignore it for something else, and if one keeps tossing enough plates enough times, eventually every necessary priority will be touched. Is skill and practice in faster tossing the way to godly discipline? Does this result in better focus on one's god given priorities, or actually less, because of the constant pendulum swing from one area of life to another? Are distractions a necessary evil? Does one's obsession with following the daily plan and ignoring all distractions (with the associated risk of missing meeting a need for family or other close friends) actually eliminate right priorities? Can prioritization of values be mechanized? Or is the problem with the Chinese acrobatic plates that most of the energy goes into hitting the plate away, in such as way it won't crash or break, as opposite to holding it even for a moment to do something special?

 

Solomon suggests a man who commits adultery does so because of lack of judgment. On a larger sense, adultery can be anything that fornicates my commitment to God's calling on my life. Whereas stealing food can be rationalized to keep one alive and strong so one can follow his calling, even though punishment follows if caught, adultery, with its voluntary lust, destroys any sense of true value. Surely it becomes a daily challenge to seek God's leading for where He wants me today… that in his revelation of that answer wise judgment ensues even as his commands "speak to you" – but it is a foundation that further eliminates the dangers predicted in Proverbs 7 of going down the wrong path at night – to give the rewards described in abundance in Proverbs 8 – a life lived in wisdom, characterized by love, wealth, righteousness, justice, blessing, favor, and long life.