Be Focused
I ain't mean, I'm just focused
Ben McDonald
May 10, 2021
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, people run wild. (emphasis added)
Be focused. It's something we all desire, yet few achieve. Focus is the one thing that will keep us moving towards the destination we desire to experience, but time after time, experience after experience, things distract us. They pull us away, out of focus, like a dog chasing multiple squirrels in the park. We end up in places we didn't want to be. We arrive at places we never would've imagined... overweight, divorced, addicted, separated, isolated, depressed, sitting in our unhappiness all because somewhere along the lines we lost focus.
In fact, heading into 2020 all the buzz was around the year of FOCUS. Yet with all the politics, the pandemic, racial injustices, business closings, masks or no masks, and instance after instance that divided us, it was everything but the year of FOCUS. In fact, looking back, it could be called the year of division. Let's break that word down DI-VISION. Vision, it's another word similar to focus. It means 2 visions. Or multiple visions, aka seeing things differently. Looking through lenses that cause us to see things in different ways, causing us to be divided because we're maybe not focused on the right things. We can have vision with no focus, but we can't have focus with no vision.
So what is the vision for our lives?
If you are a Christ follower, there is an ultimate purpose and vision for your life that God wants you to fulfill. It's found in Matthew 28 and is one of Jesus's last commands to his followers.
Matthew 28:19-20 TPT
Now wherever you go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And teach them to faithfully follow all that I have commanded you.
That means that our decisions, thoughts, actions and words... everything we do should line up with the vision that this verse lays out for our lives. Now, being honest... not everything I do lines up with this. I blow it everyday because I'm selfish, lazy or just plain tired sometimes. Really, I just lose focus on why I'm still on this earth.
Now that we know the ultimate vision that God has for our lives, how can focus our efforts to accomplish this vision?
Well overall, in order to Be Focused we are going to have to say NO to some things. Not just bad things, but good things. Why? Because If we constantly say yes to good things, we will never experience the best things because we have limited time, energy and resources.
Colossians 3:1
Set your mind in things above, not on earthly Things.
Philippians 4:8-9 NLT
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
4 THINGS TO FOCUS ON:
1. Focus on Jesus & His kingdom work
2. Let go of the past and focus on the future
Philippians 3:13 NLT
“I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”
3. Focus on what God has already told you to do (his word)
We're here to help you with this, remember, we move towards our purpose at the speed of our obedience.
4. Focus on what you can do today, not just what you will do tomorrow. Baby steps
We can all get out of focus. We can put our focus on achieving "success," gaining wealth, keeping up with Jones' or many other things, but what we have to remember is if we are on this earth we have an ultimate vision that God is not only asking, but has commanded us to focus on. We are God's only plan to reach the world, there is no plan B. So let's choose today to Be focused on eternity, and focused on loving and reaching our world around us.