Sunday, August 21, 2011

Wearing Blinders

I love horses and for a long time I thought it was cruel when they had to wear blinders. Blinders are a piece of leather, like a flap, that is attached to the horse's bridle which prevent the horse from seeing sideways or behind them. I thought it was cruel that the horse couldn't look anywhere they wanted to but once I learned the purpose of blinders I understood. A horse doesn't wear blinders out in the field or in the barn stall. They wear them when they have a job to do. Blinders actually offer a protection to the horse and prevents it from being spooked by things going on around it. They help the horse concentrate on the task at hand.

I think we need blinders too. Not actual ones but spiritual ones to help us concentrate on what is most important. It's easy to become distracted and to walk away from the path we know we should be on. I once read a book by Jill Briscoe about the traps that Satan sets for us and how easy it is to fall into those traps if we are not aware of them. There was the 'me' trap where we can become focused on ourselves instead of on God, the 'money' trap where we are consumed with money and making more and what it can do for us, instead of trusting in the Lord for our needs. Then there was the 'mouth' trap and I think we have all fallen into that one from time to time. We need to carefully season our words with love and be a blessing to those around us.

 There were others that she talked about but the one that caught my attention was the 'ministry' trap. You are probably thinking like I was: 'wait a minute I thought ministry was a good thing', and it is but if your focus is doing ministry while you are neglecting a personal relationship with Christ, then you have fallen into a trap. If anything distracts us from following after Christ, even ministry, it has taken the position of first place in our life and that position should only be occupied by Christ Himself.

Sometimes we can become so busy that we forget to take time to spend with Jesus. We need to be in the Word daily. Yes, there will be a thousand things that will crop up to take your time so that you put it off until another day, but we have to give God and His Word the priority in our life and then everything else will fall into place. We need to wear blinders and stay focused on what is truly important. Some things can wait, but God can't. When we put God on the shelf we will find we quickly get into trouble. The psalmist said it best when he said:

"I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken."

(Psalm 16:8)

2 comments

  1. " Praise the Lord....We Serve an Awesome God, Thanks again Laurie "

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  2. Great Word Laurie! This has been a part of my journey. I get so busy doing things in the name of Jesus and then when I get discouraged I realize it is because I haven't spent much time with Him! Thanks for the motivation to keep doing so!

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