When I was a kid, I heard a story of the tortoise and the dog. “I can beat you in any race,” the tortoise boasted to the dog. “With your short legs?” the dog asked in astonishment.
Anyway, the dog took up the tortoise’s challenge because he was sure of victory, and so the race was scheduled for the following day. During the night, however, the tortoise arranged bones at different points on the racecourse. When the race commenced the next day, the dog, of course, outran his challenger; but somewhere along the way he was distracted by the bones he found and stopped several times to feast on them. To his dismay, before he could finish with the last bone, it was all over – the tortoise had crossed the finish line ahead of him.
In spite of the fact that the dog had all the potentials, charisma, ability and speed, the tortoise outwitted him to win the race. Some Christians have played the dog a long time and the devil has continually whipped them in spite of their authority in Christ. Distraction is the name of the game! I always say a lie isn’t always the opposite of truth but the perversion of truth. It may sound like truth but it veers off ever so subtly. It will be easy for the devil to distract you when you don’t make God’s Word your focus. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 9:11, “…the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill.” The wisdom of this world will ultimately fail but God’s Word is everlasting.
Many fail because they refuse to focus on God’s Word in the affairs of their lives. The Lord Jesus said, “…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). In other words, make God’s Word your priority and you shall prosper, Hallelujah!
