Notifications

Well, good morning, my fellow traveler!  

I hope yesterday's reboot brought you some peace and rest.  

In our effort to restart today, we pull out our planners, to-do lists, and technology tools to get the productivity flowing.

Focus...focus...

And then they start coming.

No, I'm not talking about the delivery trucks with the online orders for the stuff we said we wouldn't buy but did.

I'm talking about those nefarious notifications.

Aren't they just the worst?

Just in the time it took me to write the above sentences, they pulled me away a couple of times.

Down the rabbit hole I went...

I know, I know, you can turn them off.

And I do, for the most part.

I just like to keep the "important" notifications on so, ya know, I don't miss anything (rationalize much Erica?).

I'm Captain Distracto over here some days with all these pop-ups and dings.

I'm not here to give us wisdom that we already know about removing the notifications so we can keep our focus and attention on the matters at hand.

I'm here to talk about what notifications we want to keep on.

Sorry to say it's not the notification for when your favorite ice cream is the day's flavor or when a new reel drops of someone falling in front of a home security camera (I love those and have spent hours watching them).

I want us to keep on the Holy Spirit nudged notifications.

Call that person and check in.

Pray for them.

Go and serve there.

Follow Me here.

Help them.

Read this.

Don't do that.

Do this.

Love me.

Let me love you.

I think we are usually so over-notified by all this other stuff that we are missing God's still, quiet voice.

Notifications distract us and pull our attention from holy interventions.

God's alerts, however, are not distractions or interruptions.

They are the things that can set us free and bring light into the darkness.

They are the things that can give meaning and purpose to our lives.

They are the things that can set us on the right path following forward instead of going backward or spinning in place.

God wants our focus and attention, and I know that if we turn our eyes and ears toward His holy messages, we will be all the better for it.

Who knows what kinds of notifications we might start getting!

Ding.

Ding.

Ding.

Psalm 119:37

Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.

Colossians 3:2

Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].

Proverbs 4: 25-27

Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.