On any given day at the pharmacy where I work as a pharmacist, I am bombarded by a constantly ringing telephone, customers wanting to talk, prescriptions piled a foot high waiting to be filled, and cashiers calling out to me asking questions. In fact, usually this is all happening at once. I often feel like the cartoon character whose head just spins round and round.
I bet you know the feeling. You may have a house full of little ones clinging to your legs, each with a different need. Your days may be filled with work, church, family, recreation and other things that vie for your attention. It may be that you are a student and there are tests and presentations all falling due the same week and you just feel like you can’t do well in any of it.
Truly, we live in an ADHD world. A world where it is difficult to focus on any one thing for very long, and where it is next to impossible to pursue excellence because of the lack of focus.
I want to take some time to encourage you to stay on task in this ADHD world. I had the opportunity to share this message recently with a group of college students who are heading into final exams….a time when it is crucial to stay on task.
In 2 Samuel 11: 1-5, we find King David struggling (and failing) to stay on task. Consider this passage with me:
In the spring, when the kings normally went out to war, David sent out Joab, his servants, and all the Israelites. They destroyed the Ammonites and attacked the city of Rabbah. But David stayed in Jerusalem. 2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of his palace. While he was on the roof, he saw a woman bathing. She was very beautiful. 3 So David sent his servants to find out who she was. A servant answered, “That woman is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam. She is the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 So David sent messengers to bring Bathsheba to him. When she came to him, he had sexual relations with her. (Now Bathsheba had purified herself from her monthly period.) Then she went back to her house. 5 But Bathsheba became pregnant and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” (NCV)
“In the spring, when kings NORMALLY WENT OUT TO WAR, David sent out……But David stayed in Jerusalem.”
David failed to keep His eyes on the task. Let’s consider four important points:
- Know the Task
- Know the Expectations of the Task
- Keep Your Eyes Focused on the Task
- Understand the Consequences of Not Staying on Task
- Know the Task
David knew his task was to be KING. He has been appointed and anointed by God to be King over Israel. He had not been called to be a blacksmith or a store owner or a camel herder. David’s task was to be king.
- Know the Expectations of the Task
In antiquity kings fought wars in the springtime when there was good weather and plenteous food. It was expected that David would be out on the battlefield with his men conquering more territory for Israel.
David had a hinge moment right here. (A hinge moment is that point in time when you have the choice to make a different decision to effect a better or more favorable outcome.) This was the first of many hinge moments for David. David made the choice to stay home when he should have been on the battlefield. This choice would have far-reaching, devastating consequences.
- Keep Your Eyes Focused on the Task
David lost his focus. He should have been on task on the battlefield, yet he stayed home. His focus was not on the job at hand, but rather on his own comfort and pleasure. David’s physical focus shifted to a woman taking a bath. The Word says that David saw Bathsheba bathing. The Hebrew word for ‘saw’ doesn’t mean that he glanced at Bathsheba. NO! It means he looked and looked and looked. He fixed his focus on something he never should have looked at. David ALLOWED HIMSELF TO BE DISTRACTED.
- Understand the Consequences of Not Staying On Task
‘I am pregnant.’
David’s failure to stay on task affected more than just David. It affected:
- Bathsheba – pregnant, lost a baby, one of several wives
- Uriah – Bathsheba’s husband whom David had murdered to cover up his own indiscretion)
- The infant son of David and Bathsheba who died because of David’s sin
- David’s family – God told David through Nathan that the sword would never depart from David’s family. AND IT DID NOT. David’s children and family were a mess for the rest of his life and even after. 2 Samuel 12:10
- David’s kingdom – David was a weak leader from this point until his death
- Joab – complicit to the murder of Uriah
No one lives in isolation. Every action has a consequence. (click to tweet) We live in a world that says that our actions are someone else’s responsibility. NO! Each of us is responsible for our own actions. When we fail to stay on task, it is only right that we feel the full weight of our actions. Staying on task is your choice. No one can do it for you.
MEDITATION MOMENT: Do you know your task – spiritually and otherwise? Are you staying on task with what God is asking you to do?
Today I ask heaven and earth to be witnesses. I am offering you life or death, blessings or curses. Now, choose life! Then you and your children may live. 20 To choose life is to love the Lord your God, obey him, and stay close to him. Deuteronomy 30: 19-20a (NCV)
