Just recently, I heard a preacher say, “Busyness, Boredom and Blessings will all try to lead you away from Jesus.” He made an excellent point.

BUSYNESS

How often have you been so busy that you have told yourself, “I don’t have time to go to Worship and Bible Class.” I know lots of folks think they can’t fit devotions into their busy schedule. And Satan is smiling. He loves when your BUSYNESS keeps you from spending time listening to God’s Word and speaking to Him in prayer. Think how different our usual attitude is than that of Martin Luther. Someone once asked Luther his plans for the day and he replied, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in Prayer.” That may sound counterintuitive, but if you want God’s blessing on your day, shouldn’t you stay in close contact with Him?

BOREDOM

Sometimes you just don’t feel like doing anything. I get it. After eight funerals in a ten week period, and lots of rainy days as well, I did not have much motivation to get up and get going. But that is the perfect time to spend with Jesus. He waiting for you. Go to Him in prayer. Listen to Him speak to you through His Word. Make the most of your “down time.”

BLESSINGS

As crazy as it might sound, blessings sometimes shove God aside. It is beyond ironic that the very one who has given you the gifts and things you enjoy gets pushed to the side once you have them. You start to convince yourself you deserve all the things you have because of how hard you have worked.

Put yourself in God’s position for a moment. What if you gave the perfect gift to someone, the very thing that person had been wanting and waiting for. You saw the joy on his or her face when the gift was received, and then they walked away, never to speak to you again.

I would imagine when you saw the word “blessings” many of you thought of material things first. But let’s consider the greatest blessing any of us have ever received, the thing we could never earn and certainly don’t deserve: forgiveness. It was something beyond the realm of possibility if we were left to our own resources. That is why it is such a tremendous blessing, something God alone could do and something He willingly did.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

When you count your blessings – which are many – keep Jesus at the top of the list. Don’t let your blessings lead you away from Him.