Your Focus of Attention

Followers of Jesus need to know a thing or two about what’s going on in the world; it’s not good to be ignorant of current events.  And yet, we have to make sure we don’t drown in the constant flood of breaking news and social media outrage.

In pursuit of this balance, it’s helpful to step back and ask just who or what we’re focusing on.  In reaction to turbulent times, are we turning attention inward, with a mindset of self-protection and even self-absorption?  What’s the focal point of your life?

Remember, God tells us to “look up”—to look away from all our “issues” and gaze into his radiant face.  “Lift up your eyes to the hills”—to the horizon and beyond, and to the Lord our helper (Psalm 121).  Take a lesson from Peter sinking in the sea:  don’t look down, but rivet your focus on Christ (Matthew 14:30).  As you run the race of faith, “fix your eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2).  So in good times and bad, look up—to Christ.

And then, follow his lead by looking outward with eyes wide open to see the neighbors God has placed around us.  How did Jesus view this world?  “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).  Do you share his heart for the lost, and his outward-looking concern and love?

It’s “too light a thing” just to take care of our own, to hunker down with God’s people.  The Lord had a greater purpose for Israel:  to be a “light to the nations” so that his salvation would reach to all the earth (Isaiah 49:6).  So too, Jesus sends us out as his witnesses to “ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

All of which is to say:  look upward, and look outward.  Worship Christ, and spread his truth and love.  And when a thousand pressures tempt you to fret and fear, turn away—go to God’s Word, get with God’s people, pray, encourage one another, and then be about the business of sharing the hope of life, eternal life!