Pay attention and be present

By Robert Hurtgen

No doubt you've probably gotten distracted in the middle of the day, decided to check your social media feed, only to find yourself being envious of your friend who is taking that vacation you always wanted to take. You've veered off course from what you need to be doing and begin to quietly sulk at what you are not doing. You're distracted and envious.

Envy and distraction can destroy you. Envy focuses a desire on what they have, and what you don't. Distractions are anything that entertains your attention from where you want it to be. Thanks to social media, we can experience both emotions at the same time.

A short but powerful command is given to a man in the Bible named Archippas. Not much is known about him other than he was a leader in the Colossian church, an elder or a deacon maybe, and that he was easily distracted. He is given these words in Colossians 4:17, "Tell Archippas, 'Pay attention to the ministry you have received in the Lord, so that you can accomplish it.'"

There are two words of encouragement for daydreamers in this verse.

First, pay attention to what is right in front of you. The difficulty with daydreaming is your body is where it is supposed to be but your mind is far away. The instruction here to "pay attention to what you have" is not a command to stop dreaming about the possibilities, but counsel to focus on what is right in front of you. Often when you stop paying attention to where you are and only pay attention to where your daydreams want you to be you miss out on both the moment in front of you and the future about which you're dreaming. Pay attention.

Second, value what you have received. Archippas is instructed to focus on the ministry he had received from the Lord. This is a command to value those tasks he had and not long for what someone else was doing. Ambition is great. As a culture, we need more ambitious and entrepreneurial people. However, if you fail to find value in what you are doing right now, you will not find value in what you think is valuable.

They say the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. What they don't tell you is that the fence is there to keep you out of the sewage lagoon. Pay attention, value where you are and complete what needs to get done.