Keeping Focus
But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God”. Not many have had the experience of plowing a field today unless they grew up on a farm. Have you ever passed a field and wondered how they made the lines so straight? A point must be found ahead of you, and you must focus on that point all the way from the start of the row to the end of the row. If you turn even slightly to one side your line is going to get off. Christ is telling us we must focus on Him; we can’t let the world divert our focus.
We see in Genesis 19:1 and 12-16 two angels came to speak to Lot to warn him of the destruction that was coming to the city. He was warned to flee the city with his family and to not look back. Their focus was reaching the city outside of the plain, but Lot’s wife faltered, looked back, and turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:23-26). This was such an important lesson he returns to it when speaking to his disciples in Luke 17:32 to “Remember Lot’s wife”. He is telling them they have started this work and not to look back now, there is more to look forward to. We don’t know when He will return and if we are caught looking back instead of looking for Him, we will miss Him. Just like the five foolish virgins in Matthew 25:1-13, we must be prepared for His coming. Those five who were not prepared came back and cried to be let in, but He told them He did not know them. In Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me. ‘Lord, Lord, ‘ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” How do we know what His will is? Solomon spent his life trying everything under the sun and compared it to trying to catch the wind and vanity. He sums it up well in Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Let us hear the whole conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.”
Jesus also tells us to watch what we put value in as we see in Matthew 6:20-21 “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” We can’t have the best of both worlds, just like the church of the Laodiceans who were lukewarm, neither hot nor cold and were spewed out. God wants our focus; he doesn’t want us to be divided between Him and the world. We must choose a side.
Let’s look back to some biblical examples of choosing a side:
In Genesis 22:1-14 we read about Abraham choosing to focus on God’s promise given to him in Genesis 12:1-3. Abraham knew even if God had to raise Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19), He would fulfill His promise of making him a great nation from his seed.
Israel flops back and forth all throughout the Old Testament between God and idol worship. We see Joshua’s strength as he stands up to Israel and tells them to make a choice. “…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
I love the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal in I Kings 18:19-39. Elijah did not allow his focus waiver from God, but the people did. He asks them in verse 21 how long they were going to falter between two opinions. The choice of the true God was obvious as we see in verse 39.
In John 12:42-43 we see even some among the rulers believed in Jesus, but “they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”
Ananias and Sapphira wanted to appear as all in for God but wanted to keep some back for themselves. (Acts 5:1-11)
So often we can get discouraged when we lose our focus on God and find ourselves on the wrong side of the fence. Thankfully God offers us opportunities to either come to him for the first time as we repent of sins, confess the name of Jesus and that He is the true son of God, and are baptized for the remission of our sins or we can come back to Him after we have strayed just like the father looked for the return of the prodigal son in Acts 15:11-25. We need to surround ourselves with those who can influence us for the good and will help us in keeping ourselves focused on His word. John warns us in I John 2:15-17 about loving the world. We need to find things of God to fill ourselves up with. Our focus can remain true with spending time in His word, with His church, and with Him in prayer.