Focus on Spirituality

I always enjoy watching baseball. The players exude such grace, athleticism and focus.

I’m particularly amazed at the focus part of the game. I have heard from many a great hitter that when they were hitting their best, they could see the stitches on a pitch and knew what kind of pitch was coming. And they were able to adjust, prepare and then execute. Wow!

Frankly, it’s time for the people of God to become that focused in terms of spirituality. This is not the time for spiritual mediocrity. This is not the time for spiritual cannibalism. What do I mean by that? 

First, we cannot continue to go along in life as business as usual. We must worship the Lord with an amazing focus. Keep our eyes firmly on Him. Second, we must not engage in looking down on people or eating our fellow brother or sister for lunch. 

Jesus was quite clear about this in the gospels. Three times this basic premise comes up in the New Testament, and, by the way, it is also in the Old Testament. A lawyer asks Jesus this question, “What is the great commandment of the Law?” And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment.” The second is like it, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Let that sink in a moment. First, love with your whole person, heart (the center and seat of spiritual life), soul (all of your living being) and mind (your understanding, thinking, feeling). To love like that takes 100 percent. And it is what God requires from us toward Him. Second, you must love your neighbor as yourself. That takes a monumental shift from selfishness to other centeredness. And to prove that point, Luke records the story of the good Samaritan, which really emphasizes how to love your neighbor. 

All of this takes an amazing focus on God, an open and honest evaluation of our motives toward others, and a willingness to practice these principles daily, no matter who we are near.

This principle of Jesus is at the core and must be the conviction of every remnant believer. If we don’t follow these principles, who would want to hear our message? As John Maxwell said some time ago, “It is more important to connect than to correct.” We must live, love and labor like Jesus. We must not deviate from His counsel. We must then focus on Him, and not chase the other rabbits the devil sends in front of our eyes. Only Jesus!

By Richard C. Dye, Sr.
President