Every morning while I get ready I listen to music and normally I start my day out with some praise and worship music. The other morning I was listening to All The Pretty Things by Tenth Avenue North and it was quite some time since I listened to this album.

Look at all the pretty things

That steal my heart away

I can feel I’m fading

‘Cause Lord I love so many things

That keep me from Your face

I heard these lyrics the other morning and it really stung. Really stung. I instantly thought about the Isaac Bashevis Singer short story of the woman who insisted that various objects be buried with her. When they went to close her casket, they couldn’t. There were that many objects she wanted with her ‘to keep’.

What’s funny is that I am on a year long mission to minimize the amount of things I own. I’m coming across things that had stolen my heart, but recently my attention was stolen by my Kindle. It’s really bad how consumed I’ll get reading a book. There are times that I read for the story and entertainment and other times that I choose a book to escape reality. When I choose a book to escape reality, all bets are off. I tend to ignore reading my bible, seeking God and genuine prayer time.

I did that last week because I really really wanted to finish the book and get it done. I chose to ignore everything else to finish this series. Then I thought, “okay, now I need to put the kindle away for a week or two because I need to get back on track.”

I’m not proud of that. Honestly, it’s a crappy thing to do to God. He kept waking me up even though I was reading late into the night and cracking the Kindle open in the mornings.

It’s so simple to get sidetracked and have your heart stolen by pretty things. I’m talking about a Kindle. A KINDLE.

What I’m trying to say is, if you are going to say that you are devoted to God and seek Him, then truly do it. Don’t let temporary things distract you. Be transparent about it and admit it to yourself. Don’t let Facebook distract you. Don’t let Instagram distract you. Don’t let FRIENDS marathons distract you. These mindless activities are for a short time, but our time that we spend seeking God is everlasting.

(I had to be honest and get this out!)