I was relaxing in my chair, reading a book. Suddenly—with no warning!—a white blur came from nowhere, knocking the book out if my hands.

When I overcame my shock and surprise, I realized it was Angel—my white, long-haired, beloved cat.

Why did she do this?

She can’t stand for me to ignore her!

Sometimes she stomps across my keyboard when I’m typing. Sometimes she flops onto a jigsaw puzzle that my wife and I are working on. Sometimes she promenades slowly back and forth in front of our big screen TV—right at the spot we’re most trying to watch!

Usually, I just get mad and frustrated.

But this time I thought about God knocking things out of our life that cause us to ignore him.

What things?

A good starting place is the Parable of the Sower. Jesus warns that many of us fail to become all we should be—fail to grow all of the good we should grow.

Why?

We get distracted!

Jesus warned that In the lives of many of his followers, his words are like seed falling among thorns. We hear the words of Jesus and begin to put them into practice. But then, “the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.” (Matthew 13:22).

This was not the first time Jesus warned us about distractions from worries and from the-deceitfulness-of-wealth.

In his Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said:

“[D]o not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For 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 6:31-33).

Jesus also said:

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24).

Similarly, I cannot give all of my attention to two things at once.

Either I give all of my attention to Angel or I give all of my attention to my book. My keyboard. My jigsaw puzzle. My big screen TV.

I thought about how God can be like Angel, knocking worries and the deceitfulness-of-wealth out of our lives.

In God’s good time and in God’s good way, God knocks out of our lives all of the distractions that keep us from giving all of our attention to him.

In God’s good time and in God’s good way, God helps us to become all we should be—to grow all of the good we should grow.

In God’s good time and in God’s good way, God helps us to love him with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our mind. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Matthew 22:36-38).

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT

What are the distractions in your life?

How does God knock distractions out of your life?

Why does God knock distractions out of your life?

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For more of my thoughts inspired by our pets, please read my blogs “Toto Begging for Food”, “The Star of Bethlehem Was a ‘Can of Tuna Fish’”, “I Love You, Gram. Bye!”, “Eating Too Much Too Quickly”, “Stop Drinking Stagnant Water”, “Neelix: Fear not!”, “The Angel Beside Me”, “Stop Stopping Me!”, and “Eat the Right Cat Food”.