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!