An insurance company studied 65,000 fatal crashes over a two-year period. The results? One in ten wrecks were the result of distracted driving. Before you quickly blame texting or talking on the phone… 62% of those accidents where someone died came as the result of…
Daydreaming.
Staring blankly into space… letting the mind wander… just letting go and mentally coasting. It was daydreaming that killed 6 out of 10 in those crashes. Psychologists tell us that when we are in a daydreaming state… our conscious “wanders off” and we let our sub-conscious take the wheel. Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever stopped at an intersection and wondered how you got there? Asked yourself… “did I stop at that stop sign back there?” Or the ever-popular “Where am I?”
It happens… but it shouldn’t. Scripture tells us to be alert at all times. Not just in traffic… but in other things. Do we let our mind wander as we stare at a co-worker of the opposite sex? Do we allow our brains to drift as we spend time in church? Are we completely focused at our job? In the classroom? In conversations with our spouse or kids? But who cares, right? After all… daydreaming in those situations won’t cause a fatality…
Well maybe not a physical death… but not focusing can cause a marriage to crumble…grades to fall… faith to be shaken…job loss…and so much more. Scripture tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 that we should be “sober-minded” and “watchful.” Why? Because the enemy is simply pacing back and forth waiting for us to let our guard down… then he pounces like a roaring lion on our lives. Take a few minutes today and evaluate your ability to pay attention to what’s important. Pray that God would remove distractions, remind you of why concentrating is in your best interests, and give you the strength to overcome the pull towards lethargy. You’ll live a safer life… and you’ll get to enjoy the benefits of being fully engaged in every moment of it.
