Where is the Focus?

Recently I went to my local YMCA to exercise on the indoor walking/jogging track. When I entered the track, I saw a lady already on the track. She was moving at a very slow pace, holding a cell phone to her ear, chatting away and also holding a large black purse that dangled from the crook of her elbow. The scene before me struck me as being very odd. The question that formed in my mind was, where is the focus? Is the focus on the exercise she is getting? Is it the conversation she is engaged in on her cell phone? Is it protecting the huge black purse whose strap is lodged in the crook of her elbow? I passed the lady several times and on one pass I noticed that she was very pregnant which helped explain her slow walking pace.

This scene prompted lots of thought about the whole matter of focus. When I go to the YMCA to walk/jog on the track, I am very focused. I do not have my cellphone with me while I am walking. I have nothing with me except the clothes on my body and locker key in one of my pockets. My purpose of going to the Y is for exercise. I don't want any distractions. My pace is very rapid. If other people are exercising on the track, I usually have a faster pace.

Maintaining a singular focus on an exercise track is much easier than maintaining a singular focus in life. Out of necessity most people have more one focus as they journey through life. For example, you have your career, but you also have your family.

This duality of focus does not erase the importance of focus. Most careers demand a high degree of focus. When you are giving attention to the family, they probably want your focus on them. Focus is an important component of engagement. In whatever we may be engaged, focus is crucial to the task at hand. The level of focus will have a strong influence on the final outcome.

This is certainly true in the Bible. Jesus was focused on the cross from the very beginning of His earthly ministry. In John 2 Jesus performed the miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding feast. When they ran out of wine, Jesus' mother said to Him, "...They have no wine" (John 2:3). Jesus responded to her, "...Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4). The hour that Jesus was speaking of was the time when He would go to Jerusalem and die on the cross for our sins. The cross was His focus throughout His earthly ministry.

Not only does the Bible depict Jesus' focus on the cross, but it also goes on to instruct believers to make Jesus the focus of our lives as we live as Christians. "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:1, 2). Looking unto Jesus in this verse implies a focus on Jesus.

Focus is very important in life. In a world crammed full of many things, distraction is a very real danger. Focus is integral to success. Jesus should be the focal point of the Christian life. I end this blog with the question, where is the focus? Hopefully it will be on Jesus.