On Distractions

“Turn my eyes from worthless things.” (Psalm 119:33-40)

The human gaze is never neutral. It’s an act of worship and an act of direction. What you fix your eyes on slowly shapes the path you walk.

My pastor of more than forty years tells a story from his childhood growing up Amish on a farm. His father taught him how to plow a field. The most important pass was the first one.

If the first row was crooked, every row after it would be off as well. So his father pointed to a fence post at the far end of the field and gave one simple instruction.

Keep your eye on the fence post.

If you looked away for even a moment, the row would drift. But if you fixed your gaze on something steady and immovable, the path stayed straight.

The psalmist understood this about life with God. He knew the heart follows the eyes. That is why he prayed, “Turn my eyes from worthless things.” To keep himself from distractions.

This prayer is an act of humility, admitting that our eyes wander and that we need help setting them where they belong.

God’s word becomes the fence post. His instructions give us a fixed point in a shifting world.

When our gaze stays there, our lives begin to take shape in the right direction, and we discover that this is where true life is found.