Focus - A Most Important Foundation For Your Life

“Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God..." Exodus 34:12-14 In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, God solemnly warns his people to be separate from the world. He tells them that mingling with "the inhabitants of the land" would be a trap for them that Satan would be only too happy to use to ensnare them. He tells them to cut down their altars and destroy all the ungodly images that they used in worshiping their false gods. What are the idols of the world today? The world worships the world and all that is in it. There's the entertainment industry. The entertainment world is saturated with occult practices, drug use, and all manner of immorality. Yet the "stars" of that realm are adored by the people of the world. Why? Why don't the people see that the entirety of the entertainment world is corrupt? And THAT is what they fill their minds and hearts with? Do they really think it won't harm them? You become what you immerse yourself in. You become what you deposit into your soul. "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" Matthew 6:22-23 The entertainment industry is darkness. And how great is that darkness! What else? Well, there's mammon. Riches. What is more on the mind of the people of the world than how they can get more money? What percent of your attention is fixed on riches? What takes up most of your thinking? Is it how to get more? To follow Christ, one must rid his heart of the influence of the world. vs 24: "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Does that mean we have to never have finances in mind? No. It means that you have to decide what your focus is on. A man needs to take care of his family. A woman needs to see to the needs of her children. We do what we need to do. Like brushing your teeth in the morning. But riches becomes an idol when it's what a person's focus is on. If you find that is what consumes most of your thoughts, you'll need to reevaluate things before the Lord and allow him to show you what truly IS important in your life. Don't neglect this. Riches and entertainment can become the focus of our lives very easily, because that's what the world is all about. The follower of Jesus Christ cannot be so. His FOCUS must be on the Lord, and on what the Lord's purpose is for his life. God has promised in his Word that if one's focus is on the things of the Kingdom of God, all of his needs will be taken care of. THIS is the way to provision, THIS is the way to satisfaction: vs 33: "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED TO YOU." Examine your focus. And do business before the Lord. Surrender your life to him. Come out of the world. Change your focus. "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:17-18