It is easy to become distracted from our real goal. There are distractions all around us: our jobs, our families, bills to be paid, and rooms to be cleaned. Even schooling can be a distraction from what is really important: loving God.

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all Thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.” — Matthew 22:37-38 (KJV)

This is what we should be doing all the time. But how? How do we maintain our focus?

First, we must decide what is most important to us. Ask God for help to keep priorities in the right order, and ask the Holy Spirit to remind you when you forget.

Second, bring God with you into everything. Find a way to turn all of your activities into a service to the Lord. If you have to clean a bathroom, imagine you are cleaning it for His personal use. If you are writing out a memo, write it for the Lord to read. You can apply this principle to any activity in your life.

Third, find a song that tells God how much you love Him. Music draws both our hearts and our minds into its subject. Sing this song until it gets in your head. Whenever it comes to the forefront of your mind, you will remember to focus on loving God.

“One way to recollect the mind easily in the time of prayer, and preserve it more in tranquility, is not to let it wander too far at other times.” — The Practice of the Presence of God, Eighth Letter,” by Brother Lawrence

— Megan Payne