The Tortoise And The Hare

In our text Paul was concerned that in the time frame and given the present circumstances that being married would be a distraction to their commitment and devotion to God.

When the Children of Israel came out of Egypt Moses sent messengers to the King of Edom requesting passage through his land.

Nu 20:17 Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king�s high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.

Isa 35:8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness;

A train:Is a mighty moving force, (Powerful and Productive, useful, Helpful) But for all their power and unstoppable moving force They can be rendered totally helpless, powerless, and useless in a moments time.

What Thousands of pounds of direct opposition could not do can happen instantly not by attacking the train itself but rather the wheels, (where the wheels meet the tracks) Derailment ( De track)

Lives are lost and millions of dollars worth of inventory and equipment are destroyed when a train is derailed.

This is exactly the danger we face as believers, that of being derailed, detracted, (distracted). The devil is very subtle and deceptive,

we are warned to be sober and vigilant toward our adversary the devil.

1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

2Co 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Eph 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Wiles: Cunning arts, craftiness, deception, trickery.

Seldom does satan launch full scale frontal attacks against the believer, this would cause us to quickly recognize our own weakness and need and would cause us to run to the Lord and trust completely in him.

No his tactic is to use subtility, and deception, distractions, Things that in themselves are not really wrong, but they divide our powers,

David Knew the Power of unity and Focus

Ps 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Like the mighty locomotive, when you become derailed or distracted, you become powerless, You lose your momentum and eventually if it is not corrected you will crash.

So 2:15 tells us: it�s the little foxes that spoil the vines:

It is almost unbelievable but the truth is in the times when we should be the most settled and the most established and set upon the things of God, is the times that we are the most vulnerable to satans sneak attack (distractions).

1Co 10:12 wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Satan wants to break your stride, destroy your momentum, side track you, When your

Distracted, you are divided, and when you become divided, you are disabled.

The devil knows he can�t stop God, and he can�t change the purpose and the destiny that God has for your life so his only hope is to get you distracted.

Focus: This is the key to momentum, (power and productivity).

When focus becomes divided or blurred we lose supernatural energy, God can only empower us for what we are focused on. You can not focus on multiple things, simultaneously, To focus means to draw the attention, to concentrate on.

Distract: To disconcert, to draw someone’s attention away from, To draw apart, To preoccupy.

Mt 6:33 Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.

David Said: Ps 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. ( He knew how important it was to have all of his being unified, and focused in the right direction).

Distractions: Things in your peripheral vision that are not in line with your calling and purpose.

Peripheral: Marginal, On or near an edge constituting an outer boundary.

1Co 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

These distractions are sent by satan with the knowledge that in order to see them clearly we must sacrifice the focus and the clarity of God given purpose (You can’t look two ways at once).

The Tortoise and the Hare

The hare: a lean mean running machine, ...

The tortoise: a short fat legged bulky creature with a heavy shell on his back.

The Challenge: The tortoise was tired of hearing the hare bragging all the time so he finally said, even you can be beaten, ( So the challenge was on).