I AM ENJOYING A QUIET MORNING AT THE OVERLOOK at UCSC, spending a few hours of reflection and prayer, seeking to focus my atten-tion upon the Lord and His Word; seeking direction for the days ahead, but there is so much around me to grab my attention, to shift my focus.
There are the ever-expanding views as the morning mist begins to lift over the city of the Holy Cross. There are the sounds of nature mixed with the sounds of passing cars. There is a gentle breeze that passes through the open window of my car, and there are words, both spoken and written which jar my thoughts. Not all these distractions are bad, in fact some are created for me to enjoy, but they can be overwhelming so as to make it near impossible for me to stay focused upon the task at hand, which is to listen to the Spirit of God.
As I contemplate this I realize that this lack of focus is often true in the life of the Body of Christ. There is so much that grabs our attention as the church, much of it good, but it can keep us from remaining focused upon the key tasks that we have been given by our Lord.
As followers of Jesus Christ our focus is primarily to “make disciples of all nations.” Which begins with helping people to see Jesus for who He is, and to help them understand all that He has accomplished for them. Sadly, I think we often are so caught up in the sights, sounds and smells of ministry, that we lose focus and in doing so accomplish more while ac-complishing less.
May our focus be always upon Him, and His kingdom work, and may any distractions be only divine.