Romans 12:2 Do not copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

      The battle for our attention span is the warfare that is playing out all over the world and across all avenues of life. There are multiple venues of information gathering sites coming in at lightning speed in every genre and on every imaginable device known at this time. Everyone and everything is after our attention, and even the fact that you are reading this article means I have your attention at this time, and I am aware of the valuable time you are taking to read my thoughts that have come from my heart. It is always my intention to help anyone who reads my articles learn, understand, and glean what God is sowing into my life. Hopefully, your life is enriched because real spiritual growth is taking place, rather than simply giving you another dose of entertainment and titillation to get you through the next few minutes without making a demand on your soul. If I am not helping the reader learn and grow, then I am as guilty as the companies who are calculating how to steal your attention, because eventually, your full attention turns into revenue.

      The feeling of being inundated with information coming through multiple media forums feels like a light-flashing midway with loud carnival sounds. Plus, all the bells and whistles, to grab our attention, are coming at us with hurricane-force winds. We are being drawn away from the centre of what God would like us to focus our hearts’ attention upon. What have we set the attention of our hearts on? What is becoming the treasure of our life that we are seeking? Matt. 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If we are continually seeking entertainment, then our hearts will become bored and jaded because entertainment is fleeting.

      I was on a flight recently, and the rows of three seats all around me, from the other side of the aisle to the ones in front and behind me, all had passengers who were being entertained and watching different programs, movies, and sitcoms on different viewing devices. I looked around, and I was the only one reading a book. There was no one with an e-reader in the area where I was seated, and without being presumptuous, it seemed like the majority of the passengers were being entertained while I was learning something that I needed to help me write my next book. I am only speculating and trying not to judge the motives of anyone, but I venture to say that in a few days, none of the twelve or so passengers in my surrounding seating area will even remember what they have been watching. These are only my thoughts, but the worst of it was how the attention (for algorithmic services) of these people’s minds was being drawn away to become a commodity for a mega company.

      It is not lost on me that we need to take in the arts and be involved in creativity. I am grateful that I can take the time to paint in different genres, build, and create, but we are also admonished to study, read, write, and by grace, pray to show ourselves approved in the kingdom of God. 2Tim.2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. How do I rightly divide the Word of Truth if I am not studying it? It is a very difficult high-wire walk to figure out. I have a website, a YouTube channel, plus a book-ordering site, and I can see that I am part of the attention-grabbing problem. I wrestle with this and have asked some of my friends who are pastors, who are all vying for clicks and likes on their multi-media channels. How do they on a Sunday morning teach the parishioners that they should be giving more of their attention and time to God in prayer, study, and reading His Word, while at the same time broadcasting the sermon to people who are watching on devices in real-time and being entertained?

      The answers the pastors give me vary from “I don’t know how to answer that because I have wondered the same thing,” to “Well, God has asked us to post these messages and make sure there is some clean and honest content out there on the web.” I, for one, do not have a clear answer, but to take responsibility for the content I do put out there. I want to make sure that it is giving God the glory and His people something righteous to meditate on. I never want to become an attention thief, squandering the precious time of the Saints with mediocre fluff that ends up being entertainment. Lord, God, help me do and fulfil your will in this area of the times we are in, and make your Word beautiful in your time. Eccl. 3:11a He hath made everything beautiful in His time.