Things easily missed
It’s easy to miss what erodes freedom if we’re not paying attention. Attention to us, our influences and the justifications we make. The things that quietly dominate our time or subtly entangle us. Working things out for ourselves before or without talking to the Spirit. Not paying attention to the small accumulations that divert our attention from the significant and important.
Did you see the Squirrel?
It’s easy to miss. You’re expecting a devotional on freedom and missing things and as usual good photo. You see a weird mess of branches and a bit of a tree trunk. Doesn’t make sense so you read to find out what’s going on. You do what you are used to, sifting out the relevant from the chaos. Squirrels are the last thing on your mind. Not now, most of you won’t be able to resist and you’ve gone back to the photo. Did you see the squirrel? When you first looked you would have noted a mess of branches, a bit of trunk, blurry leaves and possibly leafy junk. Most of you will have missed the head attached to the odd bit of bark on the left side of the trunk. Our squirrels stretched out on the tree headed for the ground.
In anything we look at we focus on the first thing we recognise or look for, our brain sees everything our eyes see and the sounds that go with it. In scrolling any social media its not the scrolling itself, but its what we expose our eyes and brains to that we don’t really register, or what our brains process that appears irrelevant to us as we are in that moment, that can become influences. Particularly if we scroll regularly as algorithms repeat what we stop at, save, share and like. This is not only an extremely effected advertising tool and marketing tool but also a learning tool. Repetition impacts our memory. Influences our outlook. Repeated familiar social interaction have the same effect. We learn how to be with different individual and groups of people. It influences our attitudes, words, actions and much more. We do this consciously an unconsciously, it’s part of life. Its really easy to miss the subtlety of influence, priority replacement and the impact of looking inviting that surrounds us. This is in every sphere of our world.
Everything we take in impacts us, what we miss what we don’t pay attention to will shape us. But, there is something higher to pay attention to and a shaping that comes from God. When we pursue wisdom and truth in Gods word because we want to pay attention to it, and want it to shape our lives, we pursue freedom. This is our ‘for freedom’. The Spirit of God speaks wisdom into our heart and lives, and as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:13 we learn to speak words given to us by the Spirit of God, receive them and live by them because they speak spiritual truths. This is how to not miss things so easily. This is how to take time to see the squirrels in the chaos.
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-2
We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives Colossians 1:9 niv
‘This is Gods invitation, to discover truth and the God of that truth Because in that experience of truth is freedom. Freedom is the product of truth realised’ Bill Johnson
