What is your Focus?

I really and truly intended to post on my blog no less than every other day. What I have found is that it is incredibly time consuming to settle on a topic, do a little research, then lay out my thoughts in a manner that I hope is clear, articulate, accurate, and uplifting. Well, for me, that has not been easy this last week or so.

I want to ask you...what is your focus?

Consider this carefully, because I hope to provoke some thoughts that maybe you have not spent very much time on. In asking you what your focus is, I am asking you this:

When you wake in the morning, what all is on your mind within the first few minutes (pre-coffee)?

When you head off to work or school and someone nearly runs you off the road, what comes to your mind?

When someone close to you (a believer) goes off on you for some petty detail, and you lash back, what is on your mind?

When you settle into your recliner at night and turn on the TV, what images do you entertain yourself with?

When you close your eyes to go to sleep, what comes to your mind in your last few moments of consciousness?

Or shall I ask all of these again, but as Who comes to mind?

The Bible teaches that there are only two things that are eternal; God and people. People, whether believers or not, will last forever; either in the presence of God (Ph 3:20, Titus 1:1-3), or forever separated from God (Rev. 21:8). Since that is a Truth, then should not our focus be primarily on the two things that are eternal?

So, what does it look like for us to focus on things that are eternal and less on what is temporal?

Kenneth Boa, in his book Conformed to His Image, asks the question like this; if you had only one year to live, how would you choose to live your last 365 days? This can be a little too abstract for us, even though most of us can point to family, friend, or acquaintances that have been faced with exactly this kind of dilemma in their lives. Why is it that we just can't put ourselves into this perspective? We all know we are going to die. As George Bernard Shaw wrote, "The statistics of death are impressive; One out of one people dies." Why is that simple fact not enough to prod us to an eternal focus in our lives instead of a temporal focus?

I think it is for the same reason why I can choose to eat a super-sized burger deal at your local burger joint instead of a salad; because I have failed to understand, grasp, and accept through faith the core step in our spiritual walk; "God is...."

Genesis 1:1 starts us into this understanding with the first four words of God himself, "In the beginning God...."

What I am driving at is that we must put into perspective who God is first; then see our relationship with God and how we were created for His glory. That is the sole purpose of our lives. Anything beyond that purpose should be God-driven, not man-driven. This is the very first step in turning away from temporal focus and turning to eternal focus.

OK, we've heard this before. How do I apply this?

Choices.

Day-to-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute choices.

God gave us a will and a desire; how we use these two key human characteristics comes down to choices.

So, how do we get help with our choices?

We must understand that the battle is in our mind. Satan attacks our mind, because our mind is weak. Our thinking controls our emotions and our emotions influence our behavior. Proverbs 23:7 tells us, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he." As Chip Ingrams says, "The thoughts we have, the feelings we feel, the experiences that shape our understanding - these things steer the ship of our lives." We have to make a habit of filling our minds with things that are of God and not of man.

Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." The word dwell in the original Greek text is logizomai which literally means to deduce, to reason, to calculate, to ponder, to deliberate. How often do we deliberate and calculate and ponder the word of God? By contrast, how often do we deliberate, calculate, and ponder the statistics from yesterday's ballgame? Focus.

If it weren't true that we are a product of our thought life, why would advertisers spend millions of dollars for a 30 second commercial to be played on Super Bowl Sunday? It is an undeniable fact that you are what you think. My challenge to you is to develop habits of thinking that radically change the course you are on. How do you do that?

• Read, memorize, and meditate on God's word
• Use your drive time to listen to God's word and/or worship music
• Take a slow walk in nature and ponder the magnificance of God's creation
• Personalize Scripture and its promises through prayer in your personal areas of need
• Share your need to refocus your life with a fellow believer

I pray that you will spend more time focusing on your Creator.