“If the Devil can’t make you sin, he will make you busy, because either way your soul will shrivel.”

A thought by John Ortberg (2014-04-22) from his book, Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You (p. 59). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

John continues, “Our world will divert your soul’s attention because it is a cluttered world. And clutter is maybe the most dangerous result, because it’s so subtle.” And then, “The busy soul gets attached to the wrong things, because the soul is sticky. The Velcro of the soul is what Jesus calls ‘desire.’ It could be desire for money, or it could simply be desire for ‘other things.’”

Oh I know there are situations, priorities that takes time to do. But the key is, do we use them as an excuse and in turn let them slowly rob our soul of its closeness to God. “I’m too busy to have a quiet time.” “I work so hard during the week so I don’t have time to spend in a focus time at church.” And our soul slowly shrivels even without us realizing it.

“I am working so hard to provide for my family. I’m sorry I can’t spend time with them but I’m sure they understand.” I used that as an excuse in a period of time in my life and I was in the ministry and I slowly lost my love for my family and for my God. So I had to step out of the ministry for a period of time to fall in love with my family and with God. You may not have to do that but you may need to reorganize your life.

Satan is so smart and he really does know you. But God also knows you and He has given you the amount of time you need in order to do His will. But you need to stay close to Him so your soul won’t shrivel. It is all about living by God's priorities not our desires.

So how is your soul doing?

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