Blog - Focus
I can be easily distracted. I know I’m not alone in this, as we live in a society that provides one distraction after another. If it’s not constant news or social media, it’s advertising, entertainment, and problems of all kinds. We live in an unprecedented age of informational overwhelm.
In the midst of it all, God provides focus for us. My first pastor used to say, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” In other words, Jesus is our focus.
Jesus Himself remained focused on His Father and His mission while on earth. He maintained closed communications with His Father as He demonstrated how the Father is and what He does. He exemplified love and embodied grace and truth. He finished His mission to be the perfect sacrifice for the sin of humanity (past, present, and future). He sent His Holy Spirit to us so we could have Him in us and with us.
So to be focused and Christ-like, He gave us instructions to help us along. The first is a summary of God’s commandments:
Matthew 22:34-40
The Greatest Commandment
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
As the resurrected Christ left the earth, He gave his disciples clear, focused instruction. What do we do with our salvation and infilling of the Spirit of God? We aim to fulfill the Great Commission:
Matthew 28:16
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
In our everyday lives, we have the opportunity to speak with people about our life-giving, saving Jesus in a spirit of humility and deference to God and His power. Paul writes:
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 NIV
Christ and Him Crucified
1And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
Join us as we ask for God’s grace to help us focus and to “keep the main thing the main thing.”
Q: Where do I waste time every day?
Q: What specifically can I do instead to grow closer to Jesus and to be like Him?
Prayer: Lord, we submit our days and our time to you. We realize our own need for Your presence as well as the need for others to know You. We ask for Your grace to help us focus on You and your way. Show us where to go, what to do, and how to present You to others in love. Amen.
Questions? Email me at lauriemccarty@wellspring,net. I’d love to hear from you,
In the midst of it all, God provides focus for us. My first pastor used to say, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” In other words, Jesus is our focus.
Jesus Himself remained focused on His Father and His mission while on earth. He maintained closed communications with His Father as He demonstrated how the Father is and what He does. He exemplified love and embodied grace and truth. He finished His mission to be the perfect sacrifice for the sin of humanity (past, present, and future). He sent His Holy Spirit to us so we could have Him in us and with us.
So to be focused and Christ-like, He gave us instructions to help us along. The first is a summary of God’s commandments:
Matthew 22:34-40
The Greatest Commandment
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
As the resurrected Christ left the earth, He gave his disciples clear, focused instruction. What do we do with our salvation and infilling of the Spirit of God? We aim to fulfill the Great Commission:
Matthew 28:16
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
In our everyday lives, we have the opportunity to speak with people about our life-giving, saving Jesus in a spirit of humility and deference to God and His power. Paul writes:
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 NIV
Christ and Him Crucified
1And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
Join us as we ask for God’s grace to help us focus and to “keep the main thing the main thing.”
Q: Where do I waste time every day?
Q: What specifically can I do instead to grow closer to Jesus and to be like Him?
Prayer: Lord, we submit our days and our time to you. We realize our own need for Your presence as well as the need for others to know You. We ask for Your grace to help us focus on You and your way. Show us where to go, what to do, and how to present You to others in love. Amen.
Questions? Email me at lauriemccarty@wellspring,net. I’d love to hear from you,