God who watches over you will neither slumber nor sleep. – Psalm 121:4 (adapted)
T.S. Eliot wrote that we are “distracted from distraction by distraction.” We daily lose whatever focus we had. We attend the small matters, not the larger ones. Missing cell phone? Lost keys again? We love the idea of a God who neither slumbers nor sleeps—and rarely slumber or sleep ourselves.
It is God’s job to tend eternity and ours to swim in it for our short term of consciousness. Why do God’s job? Plus, your cell phone is in your purse and your keys are in your pocket.
Baptism comes to mind. Perhaps you were baptized by a sprinkle, not in a pool or river, but it all represents the deep water of life and the reminder that you belong to God.
Tutored by my own distractions, I have realized that it takes a whole, deep life to become a Christian. Knowing I am baptized means I was marked for Jesus. Sometimes we receive that water mark and then forget to keep getting hosed down – washed from distractions, reminded of our belonging, reminded of God’s job and ours. We receive baptism’s mark and neglect to drink from the deep waters day after day for a godly, spirited, Jesus-led life.
If you hesitate or forget to remember your own baptism, there is no better time to plant a tree than yesterday. The God who neither slumbers nor sleeps is waiting to focus you. Dive deep into the waters. As you arise, you will be able to float and focus there.
Save us from the daily distractions, O God, for the deep waters of a baptized life. Amen.
