30th July 2022

Eyes on Jesus

The word focus, like a lot of words in the English language, has several applications. We focus our eyes, a laser beam, a light, a camera lens. Our minds can be focused too but it often takes a lot more effort to zone in on something and stay there, especially (here comes the broken record) with the many distractions we face. From newspapers/news sites to Twitter, articles and messages keep getting shorter to accommodate our shrinking attention spans. Text messages are often only emojis – reading even a few words takes too long.

Allowing ourselves to be easily distracted can have negative consequences in many areas of our lives, including the spiritual. Most of the disciplines take time and simply cannot produce any fruit or add to our growth if we approach them as we would a Twitter post. Learning obedience wasn’t instant for Jesus, so why would we expect it to be so for us? Eugene Peterson has described discipleship as a long obedience in the same direction, asserting there is no instant discipleship.

Selwyn Hughes, in his book Everyday Light said, “Life works better when we know how to glance at things but gaze at God. Seeing Him clearly will enable us to see all other things clearly.” Focusing on Jesus and learning to block out all distractions will help us become more single-minded in our devotion, loyalty and faithfulness to the one who is totally devoted, loyal and faithful to us.

Study by Tammy Tkach

First published on 5 July 2022, at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com

 

About the writer:
Tammy Tkach is the Assistant Pastor of the Eugene, Oregon, USA congregation. She is a speaker and writer, and publishes a blog at www.gemsofgodsgrace.wordpress.com  

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