The Discipline of Diversion

''And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone'' (I Kings 20:40)

   Duty to be performed may be difficult, dreary, even dangerous; but it is delight when it is done. There are many dangers between detail of duty and ''Well done, good and faithful servant''; and not least among the dangers to be defined and denied is that of diversion. We remember the old fable of the race between the tortoise and the hare; and while we admit we are not so patient as the plodder who won the encounter, we disagree that we are as stupid as the sleepy-head that lost. The danger of diversion from the plain path of duty is always with us; and at no time should we be over confident of our powers and progress toward the goal.

   Diversion from duty may come by sheer carelessness on our part. The prophet who spoke in parable to King Ahab painted a very human picture. A responsibility had been entrusted to him, and he had been irresponsible. ''Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep

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this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone'' (I Kings 20:39,40). He was familiar with military discipline. He understood his task. He knew the consequences of carelessness, but he was careless, nevertheless. Careless in conduct, derelict in duty, he had endangered both himself and his country.

   How large is this lesson written in the life of young people, and their elders, also, to be sure. The assignment is clear, the time-limit is exacting, the reward is definite as is the penalty, in case of failure. Diversion, however, lurks in the uphill climb to success, not necessarily wicked things, just carelessness, idleness, day-dreaming, the radio, a bull-session, a magazine article, even a long letter that has its place, but not first place when duty calls. There was every intention to do the work, to finish the assignment, to be faithful to one's trust; but they were undisciplined in denying themselves leisure or luxury, just ''busy here and there'' with trivialities until the hour-glass of opportunity had emptied itself and the task was unfinished. The better is often the enemy of the best; and we are busy with good things, important activities, helpful enterprises, but not the duty we are to do now. College students are tempted to substitute the extracurricular for the curricular, the social for the academic, the easy for the difficult, the interesting for the essential, the recreational for the creative, the

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better for the best. Everything worthwhile has its time and place, but not the same time nor place. Beware lest by being ''busy here and there'' we get nowhere.

   Diversion from duty can come through dangers of the way. Daniel had his duties, secular and divine. In both he was eminently faithful, to the consternation of his foes. Anyone who comes to a place of responsibility in the world or in God's service faces unreasoning and unrestrained envy. Daniel was faithful and effective, and was given the place of highest authority (Dan. 6:1-3). The court politicians ''could find no occasion nor fault'' (vs. 4), until they remembered his daily worship. By craftiness they got the king to make illegal worship of any kind for a period of thirty days, with a penalty attached for violation, severe enough to cause anyone to think twice before transgressing the decree.

   Daniel saw through their subtlety and subterfuge, and knew that his testimony as a man who feared God was at stake. From the outset of his service in the court of Babylon he had maintained consistently that the living God was his helper. To Nebuchadnezzar he had said, ''There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets'' (2:28). On a later occasion he warned the king, ''till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men'' (4:25). To the blasphemous Belshazzar he could say sternly, ''Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another . . . . O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, . . . and the

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God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified'' (5:17,18,23). In the new time of trial, with windows of lattice open to the view of all, ''he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime'' (6:10).

   The remainder of the story is very familiar: the lurking of his enemies to spy upon him, the lions' den, and the hand of God stretched out in approval on the conduct of His servant. The dangers we face may not be so dreadful as were those of Daniel, and the deliverance may not be as dramatic; nevertheless we face the possibility of diversion from our duty by danger to ourselves or our own. Happy is that heart that is faithful in his responsibilities to God and his fellow men and that can say, ''The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me'' (Heb. 13:6). Disciplined to do one's duty despite any danger!

   Diversion from duty can come from undue emphasis on the unnecessary details of the duty. One recalls the lovely old story of our Lord in the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha (Luke 10:38-42). How welcome He was in their home, to share their large-hearted hospitality. Of Mary it is recorded, ''which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word'' (vs. 39). Too much can be made of the little word ''also,'' but it may mean, that in addition to her duties, quickly and quietly accomplished, she had time to listen to the Master. For that, Martha was too busy; and at length she felt she had to lodge

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a complaint with the Lord, saying, ''Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me'' (vs. 40).

   I am sure that every earnest and faithful worker appreciates Martha's position in this matter. She had a right to expect help. After all, was not the Guest of guests in the home, and should He not have the best?

   Our Lord's answer is very illuminating: ''Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful'' (vss. 41,42). Many efforts have been made to discern deeply what our Lord meant in His word to Martha, but those I have read miss the point of His statement. He knew a woman's heart, and her desire to do her very best for her Guest; but He preferred more fellowship and less food, more conversation on things everlasting and fewer courses, more listening and less luxury. ''But one thing is needful: just something simple, a one-course dinner: soup, or stew, (or if it were in our day) just a salad or waffles.'' Something easy to prepare, so that there will be time and strength to talk of spiritual things, the ''good part, which shall not be taken away'' (vs. 42). Diverted from duty and delighted by details, interesting but unnecessary. Too occupied with the trees to see the forest, too fussy about food to have fellowship with our guests, too much serving to listen, too many good errands to run a straight course, too much Martha and too little Mary. We can do much, and yet miss ''that good part.''

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   Diversion from duty can also come from pre-occupation with the past, with its successes and failures. The Apostle Paul had been caused to remember his heritage and training, his earnest efforts to achieve the righteousness of the Law of Moses (Phil. 3:6), all of which seemeth worse than useless ''for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord'' (vs. 8); so that he could say with conviction, ''this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus'' (vss. 13, 14).

   He had natural reason to view with pride and pleasure the position and place that were his by heritage. He could have dwelt in detail on the advantage of the Jew in knowledge of the Old Testament, in the promises, in the orthodoxy of the Pharisee. Contemplation of his family connections could have led to ancestor worship, which practice in modern times is not restricted to some Chinese. Some are so preoccupied with the past: its benefits, blessings, bounties, that they forget there is a future goal to which they should be striving at the present time. Looking backwards they run an uncertain and hazardous course.

   The opposite can also be the case: we can be so grieved by the mistakes and galled by the failures of the past that we have no heart for the present or the future. We prefer to sit alone by life's roadside, to hug the heartache to ourselves, to review our recklessness,

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to weep over opportunities, to berate our embittered heart. The long shadow of the past allows no sunshine on our path, repeated failures predict new ones in the future, old flaws can never be mended, the past has swallowed up the present and the future: so we reason with morbid memory, not remembering we are to forget the past. It is gone, it is under the Blood, it is committed unto Him Who has said in His Word, ''Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast their sins into the depths of the sea'' (Mic. 7:18,19). The past, with its pride and its shame, alike cast into the sea of God's forgetfulness, so that, we, ''forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before . . . press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus''!

   Disciplined not to be diverted from the pathway of duty by present carelessness or impending dangers, by multitude of daily details or the long shadows of the past; this is the discipline of diversion we need that we too can say, ''This one thing I do!''

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Make me a captive, Lord,

And then I shall be free.

Force me to render up my sword,

And I shall conqueror be.

I sink in life's alarm

When in myself I stand;

Imprison with Thy mighty arm,

Then strong shall be my hand.

My heart is weak and poor,

Until its Master finds;

It has no spring of action sure,

It varies with the winds.

It cannot freely move

Till Thou hast wrought its chain;

Enslave it with Thy mighty love,

Then deathless I shall reign.

                                               —George Matheson

Chapter Twenty-eight  ||  Table of Contents