Hebrews 3:1 "Staying Focused"

Read Hebrews 3:1.

"...fix your thoughts on Jesus...." NIV

I couldn't get past verse 1 today. I was stopped dead in my tracks. What does it mean to "fix your thoughts on Jesus?"

Our thoughts can turn many different directions. And I find that my circumstances can really influence where those thoughts/attention/focus goes. And I don't like that. I feel manipulated by life and not centered in who I am -- or rather in whose I am. Here's what I mean:

The most focused on Christ that I am is when I get away on a spiritual retreat. Best if I am alone, but I have gone on retreats with my husband/with my best friend/other pastors and their spouses/and just other Christian women. All my time is spent in worship, in The Word, in prayer, usually in one of God's beautiful creation spots, fellowshipping with people of like mind. In those settings, I have experienced some amazing revelations from God, and He has used me to speak into other people's lives. I come away totally refreshed and ready to face the world again.

Then there is the school year. A huge time of routine. Get up, have my time with the Lord, get my daughter started on school, exercise, housework, etc. Routines. I work well in routines. They keep someone who can be happy with a glass of iced tea and a good book focused on getting other things accomplished. But the best part of the routine is, I do not miss out on my time with the Lord every morning. Because it is as natural as brushing my teeth, I make time for it. And those are the times that fuel my life. I start off my day on the right foot with my eyes firmly focused on the Lord. Do I do everything perfectly after that? No. But at least I am booting up to the right system. I'm kneeling at the Master's feet receiving my marching orders for that day, and absorbing His amazing love.

Then there are all the other times that offer distractions -- vacations, long jury duty, visitors, summer break in general, loss of routines/responsibilities. And then my focus is gone. I start wandering to other distractions and lose sight of purpose and the fuel that keeps me going. Discipline is easy when it is part of our daily routine. But when that routine is interrupted, I can so easily lose focus on the important part of living -- serving our Lord.

I want a discipline, no a passion in my heart for the Lord that is so great that nothing can distract me. I mean NOTHING. I don't want to have to rely on routines. I want to be driven to my knees each day in desperation. I want my every action -- even during the distractions -- to be to live for Christ and His glory. I want every word I speak and every action I do to be with one purpose -- to serve Him. No more allowing distractions to make my focus blurry. I choose to fix my thoughts, eyes, ears, my whole being, on Jesus -- the author and finisher of my faith.

Further Thoughts:

1. How do you operate? What or who distracts you from focusing on Jesus?
2. How can you eliminate or control those distractions?
3. Find some verses that will keep your mind focused on Christ. Post them on your mirror, dashboard, or computer to remind you daily where your focus must remain.

1 John 2:15-17 "The Pull of the World"

Read 1 John 2:15-17.

"Do not love the world or anything in the world." NIV

If we are to love God and walk with Him in His light and if we are to follow His commands from a heart focused on His love and surrender to Him, then we cannot love the world. John lists the things "of the world": 

"the cravings of the sinful man": These cravings would include desires that would satisfy the flesh but which do not honor God -- adultery, drunkenness, drugs, gluttony, rape, incest, rioting, etc. These actions are against God's laws and do not bring Him honor. 

"the lust of his eyes": This would include lusting after another sexually, coveting objects or position, all envy. Anything that would draw us away from God and focus our attention on craving personal gain that we don't have.

"the boasting of what he has and does": Rather self-explanatory -- pride. Placing your self-worth in your own accomplishments and possessions rather in the fact that you are a child of God and making sure everyone knows what you have and have done.

All three points -- the things of the world -- center on selfishness. It's all about me. Oh, when following this path, how close we come to mirroring Lucifer when we wanted to be equal with God. If it's all about me, then I am my own god and the "love of the Father is not in" me.

But this stuff here - the temporary pleasures - all lead to the same path eventually: pain and destruction, either in this life or the next. But if we keep our focus on God and His will, we will live FOREVER with Him. The choice to me seems simple. 

Precious Lord, help me to never forget the clear path you have laid out and why. Protect me, Holy Spirit, from the lusts of the world that pull on me. I desire nothing else but to serve You and You alone. Open the eyes of those who have not made that choice and use me to lead them to You.

Further Thoughts:

1. What is the pull of the world? Why is the enemy so successful -- even among professing Christians?
   
2. Would a consciousness of Satan's involvement behind the lusts of the world make them repulsive to those who continually succumb to its pull? How do we help others see the evil behind the desire without appearing judgmental and condemning?
   
3. Look up other passages on the Lusts of the World.