Let's Fix Our Focus!

When spending time in God’s Word, I want to keep my focus on God as much as possible. I don’t want anything to distract me. But sometimes, a thought pops up in my mind or a notification pops on my phone (if I forget to silence it) and somehow my mind wanders from wonderful thoughts about God to, at best, wasted time. From there any number of other things will compete for mental space in my head.

Anyone else? Although many of us fight this to varying degrees, I'm sure that you, like me, want to keep  focused on the good things. We want to hold tightly to Him.

While Paul is speaking specifically of not despising prophecies here and testing them to make sure they are aligned with the Word of God, the concept is still a Biblical one. Jesus reminds his disciplines in John 8:31 to hold onto, or some translations say, to continue in, his teachings (all the good things Christ shows us). This is such an important reminder in our distraction-driven culture!

So how do we hold onto and fix our focus on the good?

Our world and our own minds are full of distractions to pull our attention into thinking about what doesn't matter. Scripture even reminds us to put on the helmet of salvation each day (Ephesians 6:17). A helmet surrounds the skull, protecting it from all outside attacks. That word in the Greek also means defender or defense. The truth that we are saved by God’s love and grace defends our minds.

The truth about our salvation does the same thing. We are called to think about wonderful things (here is a partial but wonderful list in Philippians 4:8) and from here, we bath our minds in the truth that we are saved by grace. This truth can keep us from stumbling over things like offenses, past hurts and future worries. I'm not saying these things should not be addressed, but as my pastor recently shared "everything needs to be sifted through Scripture."

So, friends, when we are tempted to get distracted during our time devoted to God, when ungodly thoughts threaten to break the peace in our minds, let's hold fast to the good. Let's keep grasping tightly to the goodness of the One who holds tightly to us.