September 20, 2021: We Can't Depend on Our Eyes If Our Vision is Out of Focus. Are We Focused?

As we look at today's world and see what is happening around us, it becomes easy for us to lose focus on what should be important to us. Our family should be our priority, then our work, which provides the resources to support our family. And then we have other activities that are as important, such as time with our friends and church.

All these things are good, but we tend to leave out the most important relationship in our life, our relationship with our Heavenly Father. This should be our first and utmost important relationship of all. We tend to call on God when all else fails and He should be the One we turn to first in every circumstance, whether good or bad. We should constantly be giving to God our "full focus and undivided devotion." Read what Jesus said in the book of Matthew:

Matthew 22: 37-40

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

It is easy to lose focus on what should be important to us. We might say it is almost impossible to give this kind of attention and love to God on our own. And we would be right in thinking this way. But God knows that about us already and knows we cannot love Him this way by our own strength. We cannot.

Let us not forget what the Book of Daniel said about the judgement that came upon the people of Israel for their outright sinfulness, rejection, and unfaithfulness to God. Their 70-year deportation and exile to Babylon God put on the Israelites shows how serious God is when it comes to His children's obedience to Him. (Read Daniel 9: 7-10)

It was not until my "full and absolute surrender" to God that my love for God began to grow. It was not until I got out of the way, and surrendered all to God, and began to allow the Holy Spirit to take control of my heart. It was then that my love for God and the reading of His word began to grow in me in daily. We must begin with a daily devotional, like "Our Daily Bread" and then moved on to reading "Bible in a Year", also on the home page of the devotional. Our love for God's word will grow with our absolute surrender to Him daily.

PERSONNAL COMMENT:

Our vision will never again be out of focus if our eyes are on our God and Savior, Jesus. Charles Spurgeon, evangelist, once said, “Keep your eye simply on Him.” When we do, we do not see obstacles. We see God, the One who makes our way clear. May our vision and love for God continue to grow as we draw near to Him, and He to us.