BBD 01.05.05 Refocus
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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The Burning Bush Devotional
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01.05.05
Refocus
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these
things shall be added to you. - Matthew 6:33.
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself,
lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. - Hebrews 12:3.
Julia Bauer who lives in Bochum, Germany was driving to work one morning
when she lost control of her car. She smashed into a parked car and then
into a lamppost causing damage of around $27,000. Julia lost control of her
vehicle while she was preparing her breakfast. She was pouring milk into her
cereal and the bowl slipped. Julia tried to catch the bowl while it was
falling, which resulted in the crash of her car when her attention was
diverted from driving.
Julia might tell you that she was multi-tasking. A police officer would tell
you that Julia was inattentive to her driving. Her focus had shifted from
driving to preparing breakfast and the falling bowl. The result was bad but
it could have been so much worse. At least there was no loss of life.
It is now the year 2005 and with a New Year comes the opportunity to make
what we used to call resolutions. Maybe we ought to call it refocusing. The
dictionary defines the word “focus” as “A center of activity or interest.”
With a new year we should at least take time to consider what our major
focus of life is at this point. What is your focus, your primary focus right
now? How does this focus line up with the focus the Bible tells us we ought
to have?
Jesus tells us plainly what should be our primary focus in Matthew 6:33. It
may be that your life is so busy that you are thinking how can I do that?
Jesus adds, “and all these things shall be added to you.” This means that if
we have the Kingdom of God, Jesus, as our primary focus everything else in
our life will work out, as God would have it to. It is a matter of faith. Do
we believe the Word of God to be true or not?
Hebrews 12:3 gives us some additional benefits of having the right focus
“lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” I think we know what
that means. It means that when we do not have the right focus we tend to
become stressed, depressed, worried, and things start to come apart in our
lives instead of coming together.
Here are some suggestions for refocusing:
Read through the Bible in a year.
Spend 15 minutes or more in prayer every day.
Attend church regularly, faithfully.
Give financially and of your time to the Kingdom of God.
Remember the 10 commandments are not just suggestions.
To make a commitment to refocusing your life a good place to start is 1 John
1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Because if the Kingdom of God
is not our primary focus we have sinned and we are not in a right
relationship with our Lord.
Resolutions and commitments are such fragile things and rarely are they kept
over a long period of time. However, without a commitment of the heart,
there will never be a change, and there will never be a refocus of your
heart. If you will keep this commitment of refocus, you will see as you live
life over a period of years that truly “all these things” have been “added
to you.” You will be blessed and God’s hand will be upon your life.
Before the moment of opportunity slips away, REFOCUS!!!!
Copyright © 2005. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the devotionals
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