Cheap Worship or Cleansed Temple?

It has been some time since I have posted to this blog. Although life has been busy, I would blame my absence upon something much more significant----wandering aimlessly in the wilderness. I’m certain that for all of us, we have at one time or another found ourselves there. For whatever reason, God allows us to experience the harsh conditions of desert living to help in fulfilling His purposes in our lives. In my case, the painful journey of my soul over the last few months has resulted in a glorious resurrection of passion and love for Christ. This past weekend, I experienced my eleventh silent prayer retreat. As is my custom, I’ve learned not to have any particular agenda to fulfill; rather, I simply knew I wanted to meet with the Lord.

During my first day of retreat, I was directed to read Mark 11:15-18 concerning Jesus’ cleansing of the temple. At first glance, I pictured myself there with the Lord. I saw His face in expectation to worship the Father in the temple and then, suddenly it turned angry as He was greeted with the unholy activities taking place in the temple courts. With a righteous indignation, I pictured Jesus grabbing a whip, snapping items off of the tables and overturning them as He proclaimed, “This is a house of prayer!” That’s right Jesus! Get those people out of the temple who profane it by using it for the purpose of lesser things….oops! At that point, there were only two people I pictured in the temple: Jesus and myself. The bible tells us that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19). If we consider that thought for a moment, we have to ask ourselves, “If we’re the temple, then what is the temple’s purpose?” The Old Testament imagery allows us to understand that the temple was the place where God dwelt among His people. As believers, we understand that particular dynamic of Christ dwelling within us; however, do we ever consider the other function of being the temple? The temple was also the place of worship. When Jesus came to the temple that day, it wasn’t for the recognition that God was dwelling there. Instead, Jesus came to make it his place of worship and prayer. Yet, he discovered that the activities taking place within the temple was anything but glorifying God.

I wonder how many of us have a temple full of merchandise that doesn’t belong. How many times do you suppose the Lord examines His temple and sees only that we have made it into a den of thieves that steal from the purpose of our lives in worshiping Him?  We are created to worship the Lord----but what have we made of it? When Jesus entered the temple that day it still appeared to be the temple. All of the elements of Jewish worship were present, sacrifices were being made, and people were even engaged in worshipful activities; yet, the other things taking place in the temple is what drew the Lord’s attention. Jesus could have dismissed the buying and selling going on in the temple by recognizing that there were some areas of the temple that was experiencing genuine worship---but He didn’t! In fact, he accused the entire temple as being a “den of robbers” that stole from the true essence of what the temple was intended for.

As I reflected upon those thoughts, it became clear to me that I had things within my temple that hindered my worship of the Lord. These things go beyond the issue of “sin” and touch the happenings of everyday life. Believe it or not, our lives are not our own. We were not created to decide what we want to do with our lives. We were created for worshiping the Lord and anything else that falls short of that in our lives profanes His temple. In essence, anything in my life that would compete with my worship of God is nothing more than robbing God of the glory that is rightfully His. I discovered that I have a temple that is cluttered with worthless things that steal from God. I believe that if we were honest with ourselves, we might all discover areas of our temple that fall short of truly being a house of worship. It would be wise for us to understand that anything in our lives that cause us to be distracted from our relationship with Christ and anything that would cheapen our existence in glorifying Him is what Jesus desires to cleanse from our lives. When we allow Christ to overturn the tables in our lives and reveal all that does not belong in His temple, we will finally begin to live in that way that God intended us to live for Him.   

  

Don't Be Hatin'

Over the last few weeks, I have noticed an alarming trend that is growing within the body of Christ. From the controversy surrounding a major fast food chain and a myriad of snippets posted on Facebook, I’m concerned that the church has lost something of great significance concerning its purpose. Put simply, we have misunderstood the love of God to the point of rendering us ineffective to make an impact upon the world we live in. We certainly know that God loves us and that He loves others. We can stand upon the truth of John 3:16 and confidently proclaim that God loves the world; however, the problem we face is in understanding what God’s love actually means. For too many, His love is equated with this idea that we cannot judge the fruit of righteous and unrighteous living. In fact, many are now holding to the belief that it would be wrong for us to hate the sin of others because we have enough sin in our own lives to worry about. We’ve created a new church culture that holds to an “I’m okay, you’re okay” mentality and we’re all in the sin boat together so let’s not talk about it! We so want to love people into the kingdom of God and make them feel warm and cozy about Jesus that we forget, unless there is a reckoning of one’s sin, THERE IS NO SALVATION! Without a world seeing its sin for what it is, the idea of Jesus makes no sense. Furthermore, how does a world that is blinded in deception even begin to recognize sin if the church is not revealing the truth of their condition?

Jesus gave the church the commission to “go into all the world and make disciples of the nations” (Matthew 28:19). In other words, we are called to reach this world with the message of the gospel and to reproduce disciples who follow Jesus Christ. Part of this mission is in embracing God’s expectations concerning sin. God’s Word has commanded the church to address the subject of sin on an ongoing basis:

“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness (sin) but rather EXPOSE them” (Ephesians 5:11).

“The acts of the sinful nature as obvious…I WARN you as I did before that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21).

“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified; that you should avoid sexual immorality…the Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already TOLD you and WARNED you” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-6)

“The Spirit clearly says that in the later times some will abandon the faith and following deceiving spirits…if you POINT THESE THINGS OUT to the brothers you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 4:1-6).  

Sin should be and needs to be dealt within the culture of the church. We are to be a people who warn and tell others about the devastating consequences that sin brings to our lives. We are to recognize sin and to eradicate it from our lives and from the church! If we do not do these things, we fail to exercise the love of God to others. Avoiding the obvious sin of others and looking the other way because we do not want to offend, is much like letting your child run into a busy street after a ball. If you love your brother and sister in Christ, you much rather offend them to the pathway of life than to condemn them to the highway of death. Sin ALWAYS has consequence. We have biblical permission to point sin out in other’s lives---not to condemn, but to show love and help them to become true disciples of Jesus Christ.

We too often forget that the message of the gospel is “repent for the kingdom of God is near” (Matthew3:2, 4:17). Even Peter’s first sermon after Pentecost made no mention of God’s love; rather, Peter pointed out the people’s sin and there need to recognize Jesus Christ as the only one who can save (see Acts 2). We cannot convince the world that Jesus loves them by making them believe that being a Christian will give them a better life. God’s love can only be understood in light of the subject of sin. By the church refusing to stand for righteousness, holiness, and truth, we refuse to show the world God’s love!  As God’s people, we need to address sin in our society and call this world to repentance. Why do we think it is impossible to hate sin and love the sinner? Our hypocrisy in the church screams when we will not hesitate to rally for a good cause that will help someone in a crisis. We hate what the person is going through and we’ll even voice our concern over their condition. We’ll ask things like, “What are you going to do about your cancer? What is your plan in looking for a new job? How will you handle life during this divorce?” Yet, we won’t address the sin that is destroying their lives more than any crisis they will ever face because we are afraid as being seen as offensive and unloving. Do we really think we’re going to give Jesus a bad name in proclaiming His position on sin? The time has come for us to quit being cowards for Christ and boldly make a stand against sin---both in the church and the world---and throw away the notion that offending someone cannot be loving them at the same time. As Paul said, “Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:16).  This gospel was more than “God loves you,” but it most certainly addressed the sinfulness of man and his need for a Savior.

In the end, we need to realize that as believers, we are to hate sin! Regardless of whose sin it is, we are to hate what God hates. We must refuse the postmodern, emergent theological garbage that suggests Christianity is permissive, understanding, and all-inclusive religion. God does so love the world; but He showed that love by being crucified because of our sin that expresses itself in things like sexual immorality, homosexuality, lying, cheating, stealing, rebellion, hatred, and  jealously to name a few. Sin is the problem and will always be man’s one dilemma in life. The answer is simple in showing the world the love of Christ: first show them the sin that separates them from a loving God who gave all He could possibly give, and by doing so, they will recognize the depths of God’s love that has called them “out of darkness into the wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).       

A Sabbatical Worth Taking

First of all, I want to thank all of you who have taken the time to faithfully read True Life Worship blog and the things that God has placed upon my heart. As it stands right now, I am currently taking a few weeks off in order to make the final edits on my book In Spirit and In Truth: The Heart's Cry for Genuine Worship. This project has been about a year long endeavor and God has finally provided the means to get this work published. Some of what you have been challenged with in this blog will be addressed in depth in the book. My goal is to have the book ready for publishing by July 15th. I would appreciate your prayers as this is a very tedious process. This book reflects my heart's cry to see true worship restored to the church. As much as the modern day worship has served to help us gain a greater sense of experiencing a more intimate and personal perspective our relationship with Christ, it has not been without some damaging consequences. My book explores the areas where we have strayed from biblical precedent and calls the church to the glory of worshiping Christ "in spirit and in truth." Thanks for your patience and support. When this project is over, I will joyfully continue sharing thoughts from my heart in order that we as the Body of Christ can be encouraged!

Romancing the Cross?

Have you ever caught yourself listening to a familiar song and then realizing that the lyrics suddenly do not set well with you? This past weekend, as my wife and I were enjoying a morning drive to Starbucks, we were listening to a song that described a person’s response to the experience of the cross. As the music beautifully set the tone for the song, my wife spoke up when the lyrics proclaimed (not an exact phrasing, but close enough) “at the cross where you stole my heart.” Immediately, my wife spoke up and said, “Did Jesus really go to the cross to steal our hearts?” I thought about that for a moment and responded, “No, He went to the cross to die for our sin.” This in turn, launched a thought provoking discussion about what we have done with the subject of the cross---in particular, in our understanding of it in worship.

The unfortunate theology that we have emphasized in the world of worship music is in leaving us with a “good feeling” when we think about Jesus on the cross. This sentiment has created a culture in the church that has downplayed the issue of sin and rather than seeing the awfulness of our transgressions, we perceive that the cross is a wonderful place where we can enjoy the warm and cozy feeling of God’s embrace and love. The cross does speak of God’s love for us. John 3:16 announces that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…” The giving of His Son, however, was not in the vein of “this is a wonderful way I can show how much I love them and want to win their hearts.” Rather, God’s intention is more of “the putrid-ness of your sin is so dreadful that in order for you to understand its magnitude, I have provided the one and only way for you to truly know the extent of my love for you.” As John 3:17 states, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” In essence, God did not send Jesus to leave us to die in our sin, but He sent Jesus to rescue us from the damnation of sin. The modern consensus in our culture appears to view the experience of the cross with such “romanticism:” we being the damsel in distress and our loving knight in shining armor came to the rescue. The reality is that we are more like the “wicked witch of the forest” as before Christ, there was nothing innocent about us---nor was there anything that deserved such as rescue.

Because we have presented the cross as being such as “wonderful place,” we have clouded our vision of the ugliness of sin. We too often forget in our salvation that God still hates sin and the forgiveness of sin is based upon the bloody, painful, and tortuous sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We can too easily sing “O happy day when you washed my sin away,” with a “pep in our step” and miss the actual impact of what remembering the cross should have us reflect upon. I believe the words of the old hymn, O Sacred Head Now Wounded captures a true perspective of what dwelling upon the cross should have us experience:

O sacred Head, now wounded,

with grief and shame weighed down,

now scornfully surrounded

with thorns, thine only crown:

how pale thou art with anguish,

with sore abuse and scorn!

How does that visage languish

which once was bright as morn!

What thou, my Lord, has suffered

was all for sinners' gain;

mine, mine was the transgression,

but thine the deadly pain.

Lo, here I fall, my Savior!

'Tis I deserve thy place;

look on me with thy favor,

vouchsafe to me thy grace.

What language shall I borrow

to thank thee, dearest friend,

for this thy dying sorrow

thy pity without end?

O make me thine forever;

and should I fainting be,

Lord, let me never, never

outlive my love for thee.[1]

I believe that because of our failure to celebrate the cross with the spirit of humility over the spirit of “romance,” we have lost the impact of sin and grace in the body of Christ. The cross should never make us “feel happy.” It is a place where Jesus died and where provision has been made for our sin to die. We are admonished in scripture to “take up our cross” daily and to be “crucified with Christ” as expressions for sacrificing our lives for the sake of Christ. Although there is freedom through the cross, it will forever remain a place associated with pain, sacrifice, sin, and death. It brought us life but only because death occurred there. My prayer is that the church would recapture a genuine picture of the cross and refrain from cheapening its true impact. As a friend recently told me, “It was the only way” that Jesus could go in order to accomplish what God sent Him to do for us. We would be wise to remember that the cross isn’t a place where God “stole our hearts” but where He cleansed them from the wickedness of sin that once eternally separated us from ever knowing of His great love.

---

[1] Text: Anonymous; trans. by Paul Gerhardt and James W. Alexander
  Music: Hans L. Hassler, 1564-1612; harm. by J.S. Bach, 1685-1750

Not a Fan? Thoughts on Defining the Relationship

In Sunday school class this week, we began a new series based on Kyle Idleman’s Not a Fan. After watching the first video segment, I am---for a lack of better words----a “fan” of Kyle’s perspective in revealing what I believe is the single most destructive problem in the church today: the lack to true commitment to Jesus Christ. I won’t indulge in the details of the class or reference the book; however, I will reference one aspect of Kyle’s thoughts which have sparked some thoughts of my own. Kyle asked in the first video segment to “Define the relationship” concerning us and Christ. Relationships go through this process. A couple that dates will someday have to come to the place where they “define the relationship” as it relates to their experience together. How committed do they see themselves being to each other? Are they ready to take the next step? Are there areas that are “off limits” one to another? These are questions that have to be “defined” in order to see where the relationship stands and where it will go in the future. The same holds true with our relationship with Christ. How do we define it? Who is Jesus to us and how much of our lives are we willing to give Him? Answering these questions, however, is part of the problem. The truth is, we have only two options in “defining the relationship” between Jesus and us---will we or won’t we follow?

The unfortunate problem with the church of today as we have “defined” God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the entirety of the Christian faith, by our own “definitions” of what we want them to be. We fail to realize that when it comes to the whole idea of being a “Christian,” it is God who defines what that means. We have false prophets in the emergent church who want to “redefine” things like heaven and hell because it does not fit into their definition of what they think God’s love and grace means. By suggesting that “love wins” and God couldn’t possibly send anyone to hell because of His love, they have diminished God’s sense of justice. For most of us, “love is blind,” but for God, love does not mar His ability to do what is righteous and just (Sorry Rob, but some things just can’t be stretched like springs on a trampoline).

The truth is everything is defined by God----even our very existence. We may think we are the masters of our own fate, but it is God who ordains our steps, declares our purpose, and defines our reason for being alive. Love cannot be defined by us. Sin cannot be defined by us. Even God Himself, cannot be defined by us. We tend to differentiate between the “good things” and “bad things” of life; however, in God’s economy, He defines things like hardship, struggle, pain, and suffering as things that serve as catalysts for “goodness” to result in our lives. If we had our way, we would avoid these things because we see them as being “bad.” Jesus once gave his disciples the worst possible image to imagine and told them that doing this was a good thing. In John 6:53, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” Although he was not suggesting cannibalism, he was suggesting to his disciples that which needed to define the relationship----and in their eyes, it was not “good.” Up to this point, people had defined Jesus as the One who would meet their needs, make them feel better, and inspire them with His teaching. This was the Jesus they wanted! This was the Messiah that they defined He needed to be! Jesus submitted to these would be disciples that there is much more to the definition of being a “follower of Christ” than simply receiving the benefits of the relationship with Him.

This problem unfortunately goes back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were deceived in believing that they would be able to be the “definers” of the relationship. Genesis 3:5 states, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Satan offered them the bait of being able to be the ones who could “call the shots” alongside of God and roughly 6,000 years later, we still find ourselves wanting to eat the same fruit. We open the Bible and we attempt to “define” the things of Scripture based upon our reasoning rather than upon God’s intended meaning. We redefine things like “take up your cross, die to yourself, and go and sin no more” to mean something other than what Jesus actually meant for those thoughts to convey----“you are to no longer live for yourself!” To further, Jesus also added the idea that “unless” we do these things “we CANNOT be His disciples.” Surely, He doesn’t mean that I can’t be a “Christian” if I don’t choose to do these things; after all, that’s “legalism.” I don’t have to do anything to earn my salvation. True, but you have to do something to live in it! And if we’re not going to take Jesus at His word by candy-coating the simple truth that in order to be a follower of Jesus you MUST do what He says, then I guess the only other alternative is that you will remain a “fan” who experiences the game from afar yet pretends to be a contender.

The Unmistakable Pain of Worship

We live in a world of convenience and comfort. For several years now, the Western world has developed a myriad of items that serve to make our lives more tolerable, pleasurable, and comfortable. On any given day and at any given time, we can find something that will alleviate our discomfort, dissatisfaction, displeasure, or disinterest in whatever we are experiencing. Whether it comes in the form of a pill to cure a headache or comes as a pocket-size device that entertains our boredom, we seem to have discovered a way to challenge one of life’s greatest enemies: pain. Although Jesus said, “in this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33), we assume that he didn’t mean that we could make that “trouble” much more tolerable. In fact, we try to do whatever is possible to avoid any pain that might be associated with that trouble. While many consider the modern day cures for our “trouble dilemma,” a positive step in the progress of mankind, I believe that it is having a detrimental and damaging effect upon the church. 

For some reason, there is a trend in the church that aims to ensure that people are “comfortable” in the church. We in no way would desire that people would have a “bad experience” during a worship service on Sunday morning. After all, we want people to be “happy” and hopefully, become a regular attendee of our congregation. If anyone does have a “problem” with what is taking place, we will jump through hoops to make sure that whatever “pain” they are experiencing can be soothed so that they will not walk away offended. At this time, you’re probably thinking, “Well, yeah, of course we cannot have a congregation full of offended people who find church a rather unpleasant experience.” For the most part, I would agree; however, have you ever asked yourself, “What if it is God’s desire to inflict pain upon someone?” Would God do that? Absolutely!  

I recently heard a Chip Ingram radio broadcast in which he challenged me to rethink yet another dynamic to the life of worship. He brought to light the fact that God asked Abraham to circumcise every male associated with his home (Genesis 17). As Chip explained, “this was not a pleasant experience.” In fact, it would have been a very painful experience. As Abraham was to enter into “covenant” with the Lord, the Lord required that he first go through “pain.” This does not compute to the modern day mind sitting in the modern day church overflowing with the modern day conveniences for living. We have come to picture worship as being a tender, solemn, make me feel good with goose bumps experience. After all, if it doesn’t feel good, it must not be God. Yet, if we read Scripture, we find that worship at times is a bloody, painful sacrifice that is anything but comfortable. When Paul admonished the Romans to present themselves as “living sacrifices” (Romans 12:1) what image did they picture? They would have pictured a priest holding on to the head of a lamb and slicing the animal’s throat with a razor sharp knife.  When Jesus said, that “unless you take up your cross” (Luke 14:27) you cannot be my disciple (which also infers you cannot worship me), what did those hearing think? They knew crucifixion to be the most gruesome and painful way for a man to die----and Jesus was asking for them to do the same in following Him. These images were the closest things that the New Testament writers could describe in relating metaphorically a picture of the difficult side to a life of worship. As we worship the Lord, there should be a continual event of “tearing off the flesh” from our lives----and this can be a rather painful experience.

Consider the sun for a moment. There is nothing like the gentle glowing warmth of an early morning summer day. There may be a slight chill in the air and when the sun’s rays beam upon you, suddenly, everything feels cozy; however, if you remain in the sun throughout the day and experience the brilliance and fullness of it presence, the result will be rather painful as you will acquire a “sun burn.” The same can be said about enjoying the light of sun. We can look around at the beauty of our world due to the light the sun provides but if you have been sitting in a dark room and suddenly step outside on a sunny day, it becomes an uncomfortable experience for the eyes. It is much like when God shines His glory upon our lives and we suddenly find ourselves in the fullness of His presence. Our flesh will painfully “burn” and when he shines His light on the dark areas of our lives, we will experience discomfort in trying to open our eyes to what he wants to show us. If our experience of worship is not taking us to these places in our lives, then we are far from approaching the throne of grace. In other words, our worship experience has become a comfortable religious routine rather than the pursuit of God and His glory.  This is why I remain adamantly against the notion of “seeker-sensitive” worship. Yes, by all means, provide “seeker-sensitive” evangelism, but worship is the pursuit of God and if you are living in sin, coming into the presence of an awesome and mighty God should be a fearful and unpleasant experience (Exodus 20:18-21, Hebrews 10:25-31). Even within ourselves, the fleshly areas of our lives should not find “worship” a pleasant experience. Instead, our flesh should feel as if it is sheep going to the slaughter. I’m sure when Abraham suggested to his household of adult males that they were to be “circumcised” that there was not much rejoicing going on that day----yet their obedience to go through the painful ritual resulted in worship before the Lord.

We must keep in mind that the predominate image of worship in the Bible is “sacrifice.” Jesus expressed this several times but encapsulated with the thought that “greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Among this statement and many others that suggest “losing one’s life” is something that has to be considered along the journey of worshiping the Lord. We act as avoiding the “pain” of what true worship sometimes brings to our lives is an optional endeavor reserved for those who are “radicals.” What many do not realize that the “pain” which the Lord inflicts upon our lives is a “healing pain” that is necessary for us in order to truly experience Him as He intended. The act of circumcision that Abraham endured only brought him deeper into the covenant relationship with the Lord. God brings us to places of pain in worship so that He can remove the sickness of our souls and give us the freedom to be what we were created to be in worshiping Him. Worship isn’t always a bed of roses…sometimes it’s a stick full of thorns that remind us that when it comes to grabbing hold of God, pain will be inflicted upon our flesh. When that happens, we will come to understand the unmistakable pain of worship.

Being Distracted to Death

Distractions! They are all around us. As of late, my life feels bombarded with circumstances, issues, and focuses that make me feel as if my life is ebbing away into a purposeless abyss. It is as if my heart longs for being in the presence of God and yet, it seems as if I cannot get there. Although I attempt to seek the Lord on a daily basis, my mind is continually being pulled away by all of the other happenings of life. While many would excuse that as simply being “real life” in that we cannot expect to go through life and not have other things that are not “God” at the forefront of the our minds at times, I would offer another explanation. From the way I read Scripture, God never intended for us to be distracted by the cares of this world. In fact, he warns us that it is possible that the life he offers us can be “choked out” by the “worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth” (Matthew 13:22). Maybe that’s how I feel, like the life of Christ in me is being choked out by all of the other things I am dwelling upon in my life. The rigors of day to day life have taken their toll and I have caught myself thinking about so many other things that truly do not matter when compared to what Jesus Christ offers me.

I know that it sounds as if I am “burning out or backsliding” but in all honesty, that’s not the case. I am simply suggesting that I am sick of all of the things in my life that I have discovered which are competing against Jesus in me! Song of Solomon says it best in reminding us to “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom” (Song of Solomon 2:15). In the beauty of this intimate relationship between two lovers, they had to stop for a moment and realize that there are things that can potentially damage their relationship. They weren’t concerned with the “big things” like an “affair or abuse;” rather, they recognized that relationships are ruined by the slow and subtle things that come into our lives almost unnoticed. In surveying a vineyard full of fruit, one would hardly notice if a few grapes were missing off of a vine. You could look across that lush growth of your labor and not notice the weeds that were beginning to work their way up the vines to choke the life from the plant. Unfortunately, it is only after the destruction is noticeable that many people take action.

I cannot help to consider the several warnings of Jesus in reminding his disciples that when the “Master” returns he wants to find his servants “doing” what he is has commanded (Matthew 24:46 and Luke 12:43). What is it the Lord expects us to be doing? Did he intend for us to get so involved in the everyday affairs of life on earth that the thought of Him is just another aspect of our lives that we have to juggle in our busy schedules? Did he intend for us to make our own plans as what we are to do with our time, money, and resources in this life (see Matthew 25:14-30 to answer this question)? Hebrews 12:1 reminds us that in the race of life that we are to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” How do we do that? By “FIXING OUR EYES ON JESUS” (Hebrews 12:2). The servant who is not doing what His Master has commanded him to do has his eyes fixed upon the wrong focus-----and this is what distractions aim to do.

For me, I had to be confronted with the convicting question of “why?” Why do I choose to fix my eyes on others things? Why do I choose to look toward other things in life as if they are more important and interesting than Christ? Distractions are one of the most effective tools of the enemy. If he can keep our eyes fixed on this world and “distracted” from keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, then we will be “hindered” and “entangled” in our lives. This world offers so many things that will compete for our attention and affection; consequently, when we feel like God is not addressing certain needs in our lives---for pleasure, peace, and prosperity-----we naturally turn our gaze to anything else that appeals to us. The Master, however, has commanded that we be faithful. We cannot afford to neglect our “vineyard” because we are tired and bored with looking at the same fruit day after day. The little foxes seldom come to the vineyard where there is no fruit. Rather, they wait until the fruit is ripe for harvest! Proverbs 4:23 reminds “Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” We need to be mindful of taking care of what God has given us in this life. We will find ourselves in great danger of ruining the work that He has accomplished in us when we begin to look at His abundant blessings as being nothing more then “common” items that are associated with being a “Christian.” When we are easily distracted by what this world brings our way, we in one sense are telling God, “You’re not enough to hold my attention. I just have to look at this thing over here that is by far more interesting and important!” Believe me, as I write this, I stand guilty of doing this more often than not.

Distractions should indicate an important truth: God is not having His rightful place in our lives. When things take us away from what God has called us to be and has called us to do, we are experiencing life without Him. Our focus moves away from making Him the center of our lives and we make whatever “distraction” we are gazed upon to be the thing that drives us. By doing so, we leave the fruit of our lives vulnerable to the attack of the enemy. How does a godly man or woman fall into sin? It wasn’t because their eyes were “fixed upon Jesus Christ, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.” Each time we choose to look away from God concerning the issues in our lives, we place ourselves in a potentially dangerous situation of having a thief come to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10) what God has done in our lives. Remember, in one split second life can become a tragedy; however, to those who will “fix their eyes” upon Jesus and “watch and wait” for their Master, they will never “fall and receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:11).