Focus
“Here is a short, a plain, an infallible rule, before you enter into particulars. In whatever profession you are engaged, you must be singular – out of the ordinary – or be damned! The way to hell has nothing singular in it. The way to heaven is singularity all over. If you move but one step towards God you are no longer as others. But do not regard this. It is far better to stand alone than to fall into the pit of hell.” John Wesley
“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:33)
Distractions come like water runs downhill. Satan’s greatest tool is to divide. He tries to divide our thoughts, divide the troops, divide our loyalties, divide our passions and divide our will. If he accomplishes that, we become little more than randomly arranged, weak willed people. We will be destined to live with confused emotions, relationships and intentions.
Jesus poignantly said, “Anyone with his hand to the plow, looking back . . . .” He knew that we cannot look to two directions or hold two simultaneous priorities. Peter’s denial was based upon a conflicted will- safety and Savior. Simon Magus wanted the power but was more interested in community impact than the power source. Ananias and Sapphira had feet simultaneously in two worlds. Elijah’s question to the impotent crowd summarized the crowd’s (world’s) state of mind, “How long will you waver between two opinions?” That is what our world does best.
This is, in my opinion part of everything wrong with our (yes, even we Christians) lives today. If there was ever a time in human history when the potential to lose focus was high, it is now. The mobile phone can ring at any moment. The schedule demands pull in more directions now than ever before. The automobile gives momentary mobility to satisfy the whim. The internet offers perhaps the greatest threat to an undivided heart with a Siren song beckoning from every corner of the globe at all times.
Yet our answer is still the singular. Our will is to be singular. Our God is calling us home- home from the pull which produces anxiety and unrest. Keeping time to center in is more important now than ever before. Guarding our hearts and time becomes a top priority in this unrelentingly encroaching world. With all our energy, we must make it our greatest desire to find God, rediscover his will and move in that direction. It must consume us.