Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Primary Focus

Here's a profound quote by Francis Chan I recently came across:

“Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.”

Anyone else wake up one day to realize that something other than God has become the primary recipient of your limited energy and brain-power? (Shhh...don't say the "I" word...)

When it happens, it's startling. It happened to me, recently. I woke up one day and realized that I devote a significant amount of time and energy to business, sales, and acquiring money. And by "significant", I mean, excessive.

Perhaps it's because my wife is now a stay-at-home-mom, and I'm a 26 year old with a 1 year old at home and a bit of an anxiety issue. Perhaps it's the sense of "security" it gives me to acquire money; it makes me feel like I'm protecting my family and "doing my job as a man". Seriously...I have to ask myself...is that a joke? Am I playing a joke on myself?

Don't get me wrong, it's good to provide security for your family, and to be financially stable. But when it crosses over to the realm of "need", as in, you "need" to have money to feel secure...well, that's not OK. Security comes from God, not some stupid little thing like money. God provides and protects. God gives wealth and takes it away. If God trusts you with money, do you think it's prudent to allow that money to become your focus? No, not for a Christian. Seek FIRST the Kingdom. God will not stand for anything other than Him to be the focus of one of his chosen children.

Some time ago, at my church, the pastor said something to the effect of:

"Your primary focus in life is what you think about when you're not prompted to do so."

That stuck with me, and I'm glad it did. If that "primary focus" is not God, something's off.

-G

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