My soul followeth hard after thee… (Psalm 63:8, KJV)

My soul clings to You… (Psalm 63:8, NASB)

My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You… (Psalm 63:8, Amplified)

And the ones sown among the thorns are others who hear the Word; then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless. (Mark 4:18-19, Amplified)

What are you following after? Are you still on track?

The scripture in Mark chapter four uses some very interesting wording. First let’s look at the term distractions. The Webster’s Dictionary from 1828, defines distraction as, “Confusion from a multiplicity of objects crowding on the mind and calling the attention different ways…”

Second, let’s take a look at the word creep. No, not the guy sitting next to you on the subway. According to Webster’s once again, it means, “To move slowly… to move secretly; to move so as to escape detection, or prevent suspicion… to steal in; to move forward unheard and unseen; to come or enter unexpectedly or unobserved…”

(As an interesting side note, Noah Webster included this phrase at the end of the above definition, “…as, some error has crept in to the copy of a history.”)

So these distractions, these things that would crowd our minds and draw our attention away won’t always arrive suddenly. We won’t always be aware that they’ve drawn us away. They will creep in undetected and we will be distracted and drawn away without even noticing or knowing it.

I remember listening to a well known minister once say how very busy she was. Running here an there and actually quite unhappy about it. Not enjoying her life. She took a look at the things she was spending her time on and realized many had just crept in. They were not things the Lord had asked her to do. They were not things she took pleasure in doing. She had been distracted and drawn away. Not too far. She was still loving and serving the Lord, but other things had come in to crowd her mind, her heart and her time.

My soul followeth hard after thee… (Psalm 63:8, KJV)

My soul clings to You… (Psalm 63:8, NASB)

I love this verse. It reminds me of Pslam 42:1.

As the hart pants and longs for the water brooks, so I pant and long for You, O God. (Psalm 42:1, Amplified)

Matthew 6:33 gives us some very important instruction on all this.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33, KJV)

All these other things say, “Seek me. Follow me. Go after me. Cling to me. Trust in me.” They are all distractions. Seek Him. Go after Him. Follow after Him. Cling to Him. Trust in Him and all these things will be added unto you.