Colossians 2:6-7 - Keeping our Focus on Christ

Colossians 2:6-7 “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness.”

We are surrounded by various and sundry things vying for our attention, our affection, and our time. Have you noticed this? There is that new TV show that you just wish you had time to watch, that great looking jacket at the store that you wish you had enough money for, those awesome people you want to spend more time with, and of course the home details that you wish you didn't have to do. All sorts of things suck away our time and energy. But what does that have to do with Jesus? What has that to do in our relationship to Him and our efforts to live a Christ-centered life? Everything!

There can only ever be one primary focus in our life. Just one. If you try to focus on two different focus points, then you are unable to actually do anything about either. Just like in archery where you have to aim at the target to hit the target and you have to focus on where you want the arrow to go, in life we have to have our attention on the destination if we are going to get there.  If I am taking a corner or a curve on my motorcycle and I am not fully committed to the corner and focusing entirely on the curve, then I am most likely (if not certainly) going to wreck. We have to focus on our primary focus point, and for us that is Christ and nothing that the world tries to throw at us.  We have to know Him intimately if we are to really live a life centered on Him. We have to understand and be willing to learn more about Him. Everything else is a distraction.  Sure work is necessary to pay the bills, but what can we do at work to keep Christ at the fore-front of our minds?  The Bible tells us that we are to pray constantly and without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) so that is a start. We are to work for the glory of God as well as eat, sleep, laugh, cry, whatever we are to do is to be done for His glory. (1 Corinthians 10:31) So at work we should think about how would God deal with our co-workers and bosses. At school, how would He deal with fellow students and teachers?  At church, the same basic principles apply.

To live in Christ means that we can't live in the world, and I don't mean by where we live, but rather how we live. To live in Christ means that we don't let the world control our thoughts, our hearts, our spare time, etc. It means that we don't allow the television to entertain us constantly, or novels to always have our attention. To live in Christ means that we should practice our faith, and be proud of who we are in Christ: We are sinners, saved by grace, anointed by Christ and adopted as co-heirs under God.  How we live and how we act should consistently be evidence to that fact.

This week then, lets remember to live out our Faith and to attempt to remove worldly focuses from our lives and focus on God alone.

’Tis so sweet to walk with Jesus,
Step by step and day by day;
Stepping in His very footprints,
Walking with Him all the way.
                          Albert B. Simpson, 1897