Where's Your Focus?

This week, I'd like for us to take a look inwardly, in order to determine where our true focus lies. This study is not intended to be from the viewpoint of someone who has it all together, whose sole focus is on Jesus as it should be, and who stands in some pulpit looking down on those whose lives are not up to standards. If this study were a sermon, I would be in the audience, feeling a sense of overwhelming guilt. No, this is not a lesson to be learned only by others, but rather, I hope to gain some insight into my own failings and the reasons behind my own distance from God and His will for my life. So, I hope that this study will be beneficial for all of us, and will help us to see where our focus has shifted, and how we can get it back to where God would have it to be. 

The first verse that we'll look at is James 4:8..."Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded." Let's think about this for a moment. It is never God who pulls away from us, rather, it is our own impurity, and the guilt which goes along with it, which separates us from God. We seek for closeness with God, but then, as we invariably fail in one sense or another, we feel as though we are no longer worthy of intimacy with Him, and we pull away. This is something which does not happen all at once, but rather, it becomes a gradual estrangement, and it is all due to our focus, or the lack thereof. There is nothing that Satan loves more than for one of God's children to be separated from Him. However, if we maintain our focus, we can avoid this trap.

So, what are some of the ways in which our focus becomes shifted? Colossians 3:2 tells us..."Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth." If we are preoccupied with worldly matters, we cannot focus on the things which really matter. Of course, we all have to pay bills, and earn a living, we all have problems, and we can't help but be caught up in the torrent of day to day life. However, even in the midst of these storms, we must keep our eyes focused on Jesus.

A perfect example of this is found in Matthew 14, as the disciples are in the boat and see Jesus walking upon the water. Peter steps out onto the water to walk to Jesus, and we read in verse 30-31..."But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" As long as Peter's eyes were fixed upon Jesus, he was able to walk on the water, but the moment his focus shifted, and he became aware of his surroundings, he began to sink. This is no different from what happens with each one of us. As long as Jesus is our focus, we will be able to weather the storms, but when the wind and rain become the focal point, we begin to sink. However, like Peter, we can cry out, "Lord, save me", and know that Jesus will immediately reach down and pull us up out of the waves.

There are many factors which can steal our focus away from where it should be. When we concentrate on the evil around us, the state of the world and the decline of morals and ethics, a resentment sets in, a bitterness toward others which spreads like a cancer. It breeds not only animosity, but also indifference. We begin to become apathetic, as we no longer see others as being of value. We must bear in mind that Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead for all of us, and none of us are deserving of His sacrifice. Sin and addiction, like bitterness, are another point of separation from God. When we choose our own pleasure over being pleasing to God, we lose sight of His will for us, and a self-induced rift is the result. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:24..."No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other..." and further in verse 33..."But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." 

Psalms 1:1-3 addresses these concerns in a beautiful way, as David writes..."Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

It is the precious sacrifice of Jesus which must remain our focus. None of us are worthy of His death, burial, and resurrection, but because of what He did for us, we are accounted as righteous, and through His blood, we have obtained salvation. All the cares and concerns of this world are but trivial when compared with the all-encompassing love which has been shown for us. Let this truth change our minds, and shift our focus back to God. Finally, we read in Romans 12:2..."And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."