The Lodestar

Focus is crucial for meaningful lives. We need to concentrate on what we do every moment to reach our goals. I need to be focused on writing this piece. I have to keep my devices away and put my software in focus mode to avoid notifications, alarms, or anything else that distracts me from writing.

The Psalmist tells us how important focus is in Christian life. He pleads with God to help him remove his eyes from “worthless things” that demand attention. The expression “worthless things” in the Old Testament is another way of saying idols that demand worship. In the biblical view, idols are worth nothing, even the material they are made of.

Christian spirituality demands focused attention to the person of Jesus Christ and his teachings. First, he is God and the perfect human being in his incarnation whom we should emulate. Imitating Christ is the goal of Christian perfection.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:1—2).

Jesus Christ is the perfect example of prayer, mercy, obedience, and sacrifice. He has revealed God through his person. Moreover, his teachings form a significant part of our lives as his followers. The writer of the Book of Hebrews asks us, “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it” (Heb 2:1).

We cannot lead lives pleasing to God unless we lay aside things worthless for our spiritual life. Only Christ should demand our worship.

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