Years ago, when I was in college, I worked as a valet. I parked cars for big events at country clubs, especially New Year’s parties. People would pull up in their fancy clothes, hand me the keys, and I’d park Ferraris, Bugattis, Mercedes, all kinds of incredible cars, before running back to keep the line moving.
While they were inside celebrating, I was outside in the cold, waiting. I could see the party through the windows, the laughter, the gifts, the joy. Because of that, when I eventually reached a season where I could be inside instead of outside, New Year’s became special to me. Today it’s still just a calendar date, but it serves as a line for me, a moment to remember when I committed to something and decided to do better.
Every New Year, I take time to pray and reflect. I tell the Lord, I had a good year, but I can do better, and I commit to doing better right now. This year, as I prayed, He kept bringing me back to one consistent theme in Scripture. Do not turn to the right or to the left.
That phrase speaks directly to distractions. In Joshua 1:6–8, the Lord tells Joshua to be strong and courageous and to obey what he has been commanded. He says not to turn from it to the right or to the left so that he may prosper wherever he goes.
That makes sense. If you keep your eyes forward and stay on the road God gave you, He will put the things you need directly in front of you. There are plenty of things that may be good or even necessary in life, but they can still become distractions if they pull your focus.
Another passage the Lord gave me was 1 Corinthians 7:35, where Paul says this is for our own welfare and profit. He explains that God’s desire is not to restrain us, but to secure our undistracted and undivided devotion to the Lord.
That’s really what this is about. Worrying is looking to the right or to the left. If you’re anxious about your future, you don’t need to be, because God already has it worked out. If you feel lost, go back to the last step He gave you and start there.
Money problems can be distractions. Health issues can be distractions. Even work can be a distraction, and work is good. Scripture says if you don’t work, you don’t eat. But work is never more important than God. Don’t leave your job until He tells you to, and don’t elevate it above Him either.
Normally I spend more time in the New Testament, but the Holy Spirit led me to 2 Kings 22 and 23. This is the story of King Josiah, who became king at eight years old and reigned for thirty one years. Scripture says he did what was right in the sight of the Lord and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
Josiah inherited a mess. His father ruled wickedly. Child sacrifice, idolatry, lawlessness, and corruption were everywhere. Jerusalem was filled with false gods and monuments, and even the temple had been neglected.
During temple repairs funded by tithes and offerings, something shocking happened. The high priest found the Book of the Law inside the house of the Lord. They had been so distracted that they had literally lost the Word of God in the very place it was meant to dwell.
When the book was read to Josiah, he tore his clothes. That reaction meant deep grief and repentance. He immediately understood that his leadership affected everyone under him, his family, his nation, his people.
Josiah sent his leaders to inquire of the Lord through the prophetess Huldah. She confirmed that judgment was coming on Judah because of their idolatry. But because Josiah humbled himself, repented, and responded immediately to the Word, the Lord promised that Josiah himself would be gathered to his grave in peace and would not see the destruction.
This is a powerful picture for us. In the New Testament, Scripture says our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. When distractions cause us to lose the Word inside our own temple, we drift. But when we return to the Word, humble ourselves, and respond, God honors that.
Josiah didn’t stop at repentance. He acted. He gathered the people and read the Book of the Covenant aloud. He made a covenant before the Lord to walk in His ways with all his heart and soul, and the people joined him.
Then he removed everything that didn’t belong in the temple. Idols. False priesthoods. Objects used for idol worship. He burned them, smashed them, ground them to dust, and scattered the remains so they could never be used again.
Idols are not just statues. Anything you elevate above God while knowing it doesn’t please Him is an idol. Relationships can become idols. Careers can become idols. Entertainment, substances, habits, even distractions that seem harmless can become idols if they pull you off the road God set you on.
Josiah’s response was extreme on purpose. He didn’t manage idols, he eliminated them. He defiled the places where false worship occurred so they could never be reused.
That’s what a new year is good for. It gives us a moment to draw a line. You can take the things the Holy Spirit shows you, confess them, submit them to the Lord, and refuse to tolerate them in your temple any longer.
Later, when those things try to come back, you can say no. You were dealt with. I made a covenant with God. The blood of Jesus covered this, and you are not welcome here again.
Hebrews 12:2 tells us to look away from everything that distracts us and fix our eyes on Jesus. He is the leader and source of our faith and the one who brings it to maturity and perfection. He endured the cross for the joy set before Him and now sits at the right hand of God.
Proverbs 3:5–7 tells us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not rely on our own understanding. In all our ways, we are to acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight our paths. When we stop turning to the right or the left, our paths become clear.
