July 23

Distractions can devastate determination. Have you ever been the runner in a hundred yard dash who looked over his shoulder to assess the competition and thereby lost your lead? Have you ever been the executive who stepped from the negotiating table to take an important call only to discover that in your absence someone else had clinched the deal?

Even when we think our priorities are in order, we can be momentarily distracted from our goal—a sufficient time to find the circumstances have been fatally altered against our purposes in a fleeting nanosecond. What can we do when we are torn between two? When we know our full attention is required in a matter but something of equal importance compels our focus elsewhere?

Obviously, this is leading to the importance of staying focused. Without evading the question of what actually should receive the focus of our attention when more than one matter of importance requires it, let me state the obvious. Keep your eyes on Jesus. No, this isn’t an evasion of the question, this is its answer. The Word affirms the importance of making Him our continual point of reference. In
Matthew 17:1-8 the disciples had just seen Jesus transfigured before their eyes.

They had seen Moses and Elias and they were confused. They didn’t know where to look because so much compelled their attention. Impetuous Peter suggested building a tabernacle to each of these giants. But, “When they raised their eyes (for they feared to look upon such an array of heavenly light), they saw no one but Jesus.” They realized only HE had the right to the glory in which they had stood. With their eyes on Him, they were bathed in all they needed to see--you can be, too.