A while back my husband and I watched “The Last Dance,” a documentary on Netflix about the legendary basketball player Michael Jordan. Jordan’s natural talent, combined with his incredible drive, made him a top performer with a magnetic persona.
Yet perhaps most striking, Jordan lived in the present. While other players would let their focus slide, Jordan kept his eyes on what he needed to do each moment to hone his craft. And as a result, he excelled.
We live in a world of distractions. Every single day, if not every single moment, we receive thousands of messages, urging us to wake up to something’s importance.
The constant battering of “Look at this!”; “Hear what I have to say!”; “Pay attention over here!” can leave us feeling emotionally distraught. Our ability to focus on the important things collapses. We become like puppets on strings, which the media pulls every which way, without us even knowing it. Now, more than ever, we need to learn how to live in the present; or, put in a better way, we need to learn how to live in God’s presence.
In Psalm 46:10, God commands us, “Be still and know that I am God.”
Let us put away our distractions and let us be still. Let us be still in the presence of the Lord. Let us be still in the presence of our family members. Let us be still in the presence of the people whom God has put into our lives to love. Let us wake up to the only reality that truly matters; the reality of our God, who revealed himself to us in Jesus.
Amen.
