Keeping Your Eye on the Ball

     Back in my high school and college days, I loved playing sports:  baseball, tennis, and golf to name a few.  Even now, I can still hear my father remind me to "keep my eye on the ball".  Focus is important no matter what the size of the sphere is that you are trying to hit.  When we get distracted, the only sound we hear is the "whoosh" that comes from missing the target.  I had my fair share of that sound until I learned to concentrate.  The ability to focus comes with practice and time.  Soccer games with small children comes to my mind.

     When our four were growing up, we enrolled them in soccer.  As small children, we would watch as the entire group of players would surround the soccer ball and end up kicking one another rather than the ball.  If the ball moved, both teams would move with it like a group of bees around a hive.  However, as they grew older and understood the game better, they learned to maneuver and focus on the ball.  This took time and practice, but it was a joy to watch them.  In the same way, Christians need to learn how to focus on Christ.

     In Luke's Gospel, we hear our Lord say:  "Jesus replied, 'No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62).  He was responding to the request by a follower to let him go back and say good-bye to his parents.  Then, he would return and follow the Master.  Yet the Lord knew that if this fellow returned to his home, he might be drawn away from ever following Him.  Becoming a disciple means leading a life of commitment to Christ.  There are many distractions in the world both in the time that Jesus walked on Earth and now.  It is easy to get caught up following bunny trails that will never produce the fruit in our lives that we long for deep down.  When the Lord calls us, we must put aside all else and follow Him.

Our grandchildren love soccer too.

     Even after we have pledged ourselves to follow Christ, it is easy to allow the cares and concerns to life to keep us from focusing on Him.  The Apostle Paul knew about this struggle that he mentions in his letter to the Philippians (Chapter 3: 13-15a):  "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.  I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God's heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.  All of us who are mature should embrace this point of view...."  Paul is encouraging us as believers to look up for Heaven is our home where we hold eternal citizenship in Christ.   I am reminded of the hymn "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" where the chorus goes:  "Turn your eyes upon Jesus; look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."  In order to do this, however, there are two things we need to do.

     First, spend more time reading His Word than the newspaper or watching T.V. news programs.  The things we do the most have the greatest impact on our thinking.  If we want our minds to be transformed to conform to that of Christ, it is obvious that we must spend time getting to know Him.  We do that by reading, meditating and praying God's Word back to Him.  He reveals Himself to us if we seek Him through the pages of the Bible.  We neglect it to our peril.  Absorbing all the "bad news" as a daily diet is bound to cause us fear, anxiety and a sense of hopelessness because most of us can do little to change the affairs of this fallen world.  On the other hand, God is in control.  Therefore, we must build our faith and trust in Him by reading the Word for His Word is the truth!

     Secondly, we must be in prayer.  We are admonished to "pray without ceasing" (I Thessalonians 5:17).  This is key in our walk with the Lord and keeping our focus on Him.  We are encouraged to take everything to God in prayer.  When we praise Him, He lifts us up
.  As we tell Him our troubles, He gives us rest ("Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28).  Jesus is the one who binds up the wounds of the broken hearted and carries us when we are too weak to go on.  I often think of the 23rd Psalm when I think of prayer because Jesus is our Good Shepherd who leads us beside the still waters and restores our souls.  He also walks with us through the "valley of the shadow of death".  Both in our good times and in our bad times, we have a friend in Jesus.  Once again, the key is how much time will we spend with Him as versus the troubles of this world?

     Recently, with spread of COVID, the recent developments in Afghanistan, and the rapid turn of events in our own country, there is a lot of fear and concern.  Nevertheless, this is the time to "keep our eye on the ball" or rather time to keep our focus on Jesus Christ and the goal of our high calling.  The Bible tells us plainly, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee..."  Isaiah 26:3.  A mind fixed on Christ is the way we win the battle for our peace of mind.  As believers, let us fix our eyes upon Jesus rather than on all that is going on around us.  Selah!

     

Our Fear of What Others Think

     Recently a television ad got my attention for its "me-centric" theme.  A lady pops into a room filled with other women who represent various aspects of her personality (it's a commercial for Zillow).  There is "negative" me, "lazy" me, "anti-social" me, "spontaneous" me and a host of others.  Of course, it is all the same person shown on camera.  In short, it's all about "me"!  She is looking for advice on a home she wants to buy.  This is a clever ad, but it also reveals where many of us get stuck in life.  Instead of looking to God for answers, we often turn to ourselves or others.  This is what one author calls the "fear of man".

     A Bible study I am doing with a friend is based on a book by Trillia Newbell entitled "Fear and Faith". Her chapter on the fear of man really spoke loud and clear to me and I think it speaks volumes to many of us who love the Lord.  We can so easily be sidetracked in our walk of faith by being overly concerned with what others think of us.  We may avoid acting in a certain way or saying certain things in an effort to please others.  That is not to say that we should be tactless in the way we behave around others, but when we allow fear of others to dominate our thinking then we are demonstrating a fear of man.

     In John's Gospel, we see this on clear display as Jesus ministered among the people.  Verses 42-43 in chapter 12 read:  "Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in Him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God."  Just reading that makes me sad and yet, we are in much the same boat aren't we?   We don't want people to see our sin or be disappointed in us.  As a result, it leads to people pleasing rather than pleasing God.

     Another book which I have recently read (Todd Friel, "Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety") offers several symptoms of the fear of man.  He lists the following:  insecurity, people pleasing, given to gossip, afraid of failure, given to shyness, self-consciousness, easily embarrassed, avoidance of others, need to be in control, a craving to be approved, reactionary and defensive, can't handle rejection well, struggle with over-sensitivity,  overly competitive with others, controlled by the opinions of others (Chapter 16, Stressed Out).  Furthermore, he goes on to say that the fear of man is a pride problem at its core.  What we really need to focus on is not so much what man thinks but how are we living in light of our relationship to God who loves us and gave His Son for our salvation?  

     Our lives need to be focussed on glorifying the Lord and serving Him.  People's opinions, as we know, change with the wind but our God is the constant in our lives.  His love never changes for us nor does He abandon us when we fail.  He is ready to forgive when we come in repentance and any reading of the Bible assures us that He is the God of all mercy.  The Bible is right when it says in Proverbs 29:25:  "The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trust in the Lord will be exalted."  

     In addition, God does not demand a perfect performance from us because Christ's perfect, sinless life was imputed to us when God regenerated our hearts.  Our worth, our significance is not in what others think but it is found in Christ alone.  What a relief!!!  We don't have to dance to someone else's tune!!!  We don't have to overachieve or exhaust ourselves trying to please everyone.  We are accepted in the Beloved as a Christian.

     Obviously, we want good relationships and want to bless others, but our motive should be to please the Lord in all we do.  Let us cast aside our pride and our fear of what others might think, and enjoy our freedom in Christ.  Living for Him will bring the richest blessings and the greatest satisfaction!  Selah!

What is Truth?

      During my years in college, it was a turbulent time in our country's history.  The Vietnam war raged on and there were demonstrations across the nation.  Young people, in my generation, were looking for answers and we often sat in the Student Union to discuss the various issues of the day.  Some of us had come to college to study and prepare for a career.  Many young men came to escape the draft through student deferment, but whatever the reason, most of us were looking for truth.  Sadly, some found their answers in radicalism, socialism and even Marxism.  Others found their truth in drugs and the sexual revolution.  However, for me, it was the beginning of a spiritual quest.  I had been raised in the church and taught about Christ but now my values and faith were being put to the test.  Just because a person belongs to a church does not mean they are a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes them a car.  We must each individually come to the truth of who Jesus Christ really is in order to call ourselves Christians.

     All these thoughts went through my head as I listened to our pastor's sermon this past Sunday.  He preached on a passage that really grabbed my attention (John 18:28-40).  In this passage, Jesus has been arrested and brought before Pontius Pilate by the Sanhedrin.  As Pilate begins his interrogation, he asks Jesus if He is a king.  Jesus made it clear that His kingdom was not of this world and then responded:  "You say that I am a king.  For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world - to bear witness to the truth.  Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.  Pilate said to Him, 'What is truth?'" (verses 37b-38).  Sounds so like a politician doesn't it?  In fact, it sounds like many people today.  Our culture says that truth is relative.  What may be true for you may not be true for me.  However, we have been given a standard of truth by which we are to live.  It is a handbook for life given to us by our Creator.  Most of us grew up with this handbook in our home.  It's called the Bible.  Unfortunately, many have neglected to read it, and it shows in the broken lives we see around us.

     When God made this world, it was perfect, good and in harmony.  He made man and woman in His image, but they chose to disobey Him.  Not only did they break fellowship with God, but they plunged our world into a fallen state.  Work would become hard and now relationships would also be affected by the sin that had entered mankind.  In the Bible, we are clearly told in Romans 3:10-11:  "...as it is written:  'None is righteous, no, not one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God."  This has been the story of the human race ever since that day in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed the voice of Truth.  Yet, the story does not end with our bondage to sin which all of us are under from the day we are born.

     John 3:16 clearly tells us that God had a plan from the beginning to offer us freedom from sin so we could know the truth.  "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  This is what Jesus was trying to tell Pilate.  He had been born to bring the light of truth and to die for the sins for which we were guilty.  In front of this Governor stood the answer to the question....what is truth...but he chose to turn away.  Many choose to walk away even today.  They seek answers in government, as Pilate did, or they try alternative ways of living....anything to avoid God and deal with sin.  The problem is that there will never be a perfect government, justice or freedom in this fallen world.  We don't have to look to far to see that for ourselves.  As hard as man tries, we just can't fix all the broken pieces, but the Good News is that Jesus Christ is coming again.  He will bring the justice we crave.  He will bring peace and the truth that we desire.

     As He told Pilate, His kingdom is not of this world. When we put our faith in Him and repent of our sins, we become citizens of this new and better kingdom.  Furthermore, according to the Bible, He will create a new heaven and a new earth restoring what sin destroyed in this world.  Talk about improving the environment and restoring right relationships!  He will walk with us and fellowship with believers.  It's all described in the Bible.

     Now anyone reading this may say, that all of this is well and good, but this is "pie in the sky by and by".  What about our problems here?  Jesus Christ has commanded us to be light and salt in this world.  We are to tell others about Him and the truth He brings.  Of course, we should be involved in doing what we can to better things for others around us and fight for truth.  But when He rose from the dead, He conquered sin and death for those who believe in Him.  We will live eternally and the question is where will that be?  In His Kingdom or in Hell that is prepared for the devil and his angels?  Pilate chose to walk away.  He was too busy with the affairs of life to face the 'Truth" in front of him.

     Beloved, I am writing this to encourage believers to keep our eyes fixed on Him.  He will come again.  He will set all that is wrong right.  We cannot fix this broken world but He can.  For those who have never committed their lives to Christ, think about what I have written.  Jesus said:  "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).  Open the Bible and read the Owner's Manual to life...in its pages there is truth and this truth will set you free!  Selah!