The Devil Doesn't Need You to Sin. He Just Needs You Distracted.
“Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2
8/23/20262 min read
The Devil Doesn't Need You to Sin. He Just Needs You Distracted.
“Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2
I used to believe that spiritual danger was obvious. You know, bad decisions, disobedience, walking away from God. But the older I get, the more I realize that some of the biggest threats to my faith don't look dangerous at all. They look like busyness. They look like endless scrolling. They look like constantly checking my phone. They look like always having something to do and never having a moment to sit with God.
The enemy loves for us to think that as long as we're not committing some obvious sin, we're doing fine. But sometimes he doesn't need to get us to run away from Jesus. He just needs to keep us too distracted to spend time with Him.
Hebrews 12:1 says:
"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles."
Notice that verse mentions sin and everything that hinders. Those aren't the same thing. Not everything that pulls us away from God is inherently sinful. Sometimes it's just noise. Sometimes it's good things that have become too important…fyi, that’s called idolatry.
I've noticed there are days when I spend more time reading comments than reading Scripture, more time refreshing my feed than renewing my mind, and more time worrying about what's happening in the world than talking to the One who holds the world. And then I wonder why I feel spiritually dry.
But the writer of Hebrews tells us exactly what to do. "Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."
You can't focus on everything. Whatever gets your attention gets your direction so maybe today the question isn't, "What sin do I need to get rid of?" Maybe the question is, "What's distracting me from Jesus?" Because if the enemy can keep us busy, entertained, worried, and constantly occupied, he can keep us from the very thing our souls need most – time with Christ.