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What Is Our Focus?

by Chris Simmons

When you drive down the road, where is your focus? We know that unless our attention is circumspectly directed to the road all around us, danger awaits. Even more important is the question, where is our focus in life?

Is our focus on the things of this life or on the things above? Paul wrote in Colossians 3:1-2, “If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” The question is, do we have a mindset in which we consistently view our physical life from a spiritual perspective or do we view our spiritual life from an earthly perspective? Our mindset (frame of mind) will determine whether we will be able to be “faithful until death” (Rev. 2:10). Paul said in Romans 8:5-8, “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” It’s a battle to maintain the proper mindset and focus (2 Cor. 10:5) but it’s a battle that we must win.

Is our focus on pleasing self, others, or God? Our mindset is vital because it leads to the point of who we’re seeking to please. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:4, “No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” We need to learn what pleases the Lord (Eph. 5:10) and then live with the singular ambition and focus on pleasing Him “in all respects” (2 Cor. 5:9; Col. 1:10). It’s not about pleasing ourselves or just making ourselves happy (Rom. 15:1-3). Rather, we must please Him who has given us life. As long as we keep focusing on the things of the flesh, we will never be able to please God (Rom. 8:8). Where would we be if Jesus sought that which pleased Himself rather than seeking to please His Father (John 8:29)?

Is our focus on the temporal or the eternal? To focus on the temporal is to focus on the immediate moment we find ourselves in. Moses, when he was in Pharaoh’s house, knew there was something greater than what he enjoyed in the present moment and chose to focus on the eternal rather than the present. Hebrews 11:24-26, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin; considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.” Is our life about satisfaction for the moment or a reward for all eternity? Paul addressed this contrast in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Is our life about the here and now or the unceasing life to come?

Is our focus exclusively on what’s going on inside the church or does it include those in the world yet lost in sin who are outside of the Lord’s church? It is critical that the Lord’s church maintain doctrinal purity and uphold the sacred pillars of truth (1 Tim. 3:15). The church must not “be carried about by every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14) but with dedication and devotion, ensure that what is taught are “the things which are fitting for sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). There is a “standard (pattern) of sound words” that the church of our Lord Jesus Christ must “retain” (Titus 1:10). Jesus praises the church in Ephesus for intolerance of false teachers (Rev. 2:2) while the churches in both Pergamum and Thyatira were rebuked for their tolerance of false teaching (Rev. 2:14, 20). Today, brethren are to be commended when they “contend earnestly for the faith” (Jude 3) and work to ensure that false teachers are not given a platform to spread their error “so that the truth of the gospel might remain” (Gal. 2:5).

But what is our focus regarding those in the world who are yet in their sins and are without hope? Do we see the urgency to seek for those who would want to know the truth of God’s word? Or, have we convinced ourselves that no one’s interested anymore? During His ministry, Jesus saw a world without direction and hope and He recognized the work it would take to reach those and the need to have more workers to fulfill the need. “And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest’” (Matt 9:36-38). Jesus wanted His disciples to see the opportunities presently before them when He said in John 4:35, “lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” We’ve got to learn to see the opportunities before us and take advantage of them. Jesus’ admonition is to us as well to “lift up your eyes” and look for the opportunities to share the gospel rather than focusing on our temporal desires and personal pleasures. We see the contrast in John chapter 4 as Jesus had just sought to teach a woman of Samaria and focus her on her spiritual needs (vs. 7-30) while His disciples were simply thinking about physical food and satisfying fleshly appetites (vs. 31-34). Like the disciples, we will miss the opportunities to teach when we have our focus on our fleshly, temporal concerns. Have we lost our love for the lost souls of those in the world today? If we have, perhaps we’re no longer the light in this world Jesus expects of His church (Matt. 6:14-16). We need to pray that we’ll be ready for doors of opportunity that come our way. Colossians 4:2-3, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ.”

We need to constantly work on keeping our focus on what it should be because, rest assured, our adversary Satan is continually and diligently trying to redirect our focus to the fleshly, temporal, and selfish things of life and away from the lost souls in the world.

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