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Distractions

Davion Mandeville

Mr. Holley

Senior Seminar

May 9, 2014

There are honestly quite a few distractions in my life that keep me from living my

life the way I should (Going to church, reading the Bible, praying), but the main one that

I think of are any type of game that I enjoy playing. I’ve always been the competitive

type, and I always accepted the challenge of a game (level of difficulty: HARD). I love

winning no matter what… probably more then some people should. If I had to narrow it

down to the biggest game that grabs my attention the most, it would have to be my Xbox

360. I’ve been a gamer forever and all of my friends know that if they need to get in

touch with me, the easiest way is a chat over Xbox Live. Most of the time, they have a

better chance to get a hold of me through a chat over the gaming system then they do

through my cell phone or even Facebook. Most likely I’ve spent more time gaming then I

have read the Bible and attended service combined, and that’s saying something because

I grew up in a Christian family and a gospel church.

I know it’s pretty bad hearing me say that I game more then I worship and maybe

even enjoy it a bit more, but sometimes I just find worship boring and would rather play a

game instead. This distraction of mine had gotten pretty bad, and I had found myself

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actually deciding to miss a day or two of church just to bet a level of a new game I had

bought the night before. I would end up sleeping in a bit later then normal on Sundays

hoping that I would miss the beginning of church, then I would have a reason to not go

that day. The days I did end up going down to the church to praise God didn’t involve a

lot of praising. I got distracted all of the time, thinking about a certain mission I couldn’t

beat or even starting up another game on my cell phone. The only thing I would really get

out of the entire service would be at the end when he said “Lets all join hands so we can

have a dismissal prayer.” I just didn’t find worship as interesting like other people did. I

would have rather been doing something I liked then doing something I didn’t like as

much.

I am glad to say that now a days I am doing a lot better about going to church

when I can and not just making up my own excuses about why I can’t or shouldn’t go.

One day when my pastor was preaching, I had caught a bit of what he was talking about

(This was back when I was fiddling on my phone during church.) and it hit me hard. He

was telling us how nothing material on this earth would matter when Christ returns. How

no amount of money or any objects we love will be with us while we are being judged

and after. That night I had thought long and hard about what he had said and soon

realized that all those games that I had played meant nothing really in the end. Yeah they

were fun and I enjoyed playing them, but I couldn’t let that be my distraction from
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Distractions

something that would be eternal. So from that point on, every Sunday morning I unplug

my distraction so that it doesn’t keep me from my eternal life with Christ in heaven.

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