Last night I listened to an Andy Stanley teaching in which he talked about the distractions that take up our time and reroute us away from the important things in life. He said that if we just lift up our feet, the culture will sweep us away with it.

I get that image. We’ve been at the beach, swimming in the ocean and enjoying ourselves. After a few minutes we plant our feet and look for our umbrella and beach chairs, only to spy them a hundred yards back from where we ended up. We were carried away, unaware, by the current.

The Lord told Hosea that “the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD” (1:2). No doubt that is true for America, but I’ve got to start with me. I am guilty of that “vile adultery.”

Hosea’s unfaithful wife said,

“I will go after my lovers,

who give me my food and my water,

my wool and my linen,

my oil and my drink” (2:5)

It’s all about the appetites we have and satisfying them. We want the treats, the clothes, the entertainment. We lift up our feet and — ka-boom! Suddenly we are carried away in the current. We don’t have to make any effort. We just have to quit planting our feet, just stop slogging against the strong current of culture, and we’re gone.

Yet, all that we need and desire, Jesus said He would give us, if we only seek Him first instead of seeking the stuff first. “The pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:32-33).

We all know that scripture. We’ve sung the chorus and bought the T-shirt. But do we live it?

I’ve recently come to recognize that the strong current in my life right now is what you’re reading this blog on — social media, the internet, and all the other distractions that happen when I sit down in this chair in front of my computer. It just takes a quick sit-down, and suddenly it’s 45 minutes later. I lifted my feet, the strong current carried me away, and I look up and realize I’m not where I want to be.

What about you? What is the powerful current that causes you to drift away from where you want to be? What is so appealing that it causes you to lift your planted feet and go after it? What is the number one thing that distracts you away from God right now?

Maybe we can agree together that, with God’s help and by His strength, we will keep our feet planted and chase after God first. Then we will let Him satisfy us not only with Himself, but with all the other “stuff” He promised and He knows we need.

So I’m getting up from this chair right about now….

What about you?