Okay, so my thoughts are all over the place today. It’s been a week that has provoked a lot of deep thought. This may seem like one heck of a rabbit trail, but bear with me. Sunday, I went to church with a friend. At this church, there was a special speaker and he talked about a lot (most pastors love to talk and can get pretty long winded), but what struck me the most was the simple truth that we spend so much time focusing on our sins, our struggles that it’s all we can think about… Don’t do this, don’t do that. Rules. Regulations. Legalism. It’s like when you are on a diet, all you can think about is food. When you are trying to be a "good Christian" all you seem to notice are the temptations and your failures. Our perspective is all wrong. Instead of focusing on the sin, struggles, temptations, we should simply be focusing on God. The more we meditate on Him and WHO HE IS and his love and goodness, the more we want to be in His presence. It’s like we get tunnel vision and all we care about, all we can see is Him. The more our eyes are on Him, the more we start to change and become like Him. Sure, we’ll still fall from time to time – we will never achieve perfection – but we’ll notice that these sins and temptations that once consumed us are no longer such a struggle.
I was talking to another friend today who has recently gone through some pretty major failures. He is being judged, his character called into question and outright defamed. He hears and reads all these horrible, malicious, slanderous statements about himself and it’s really taking a toll on him. He just wants to put the past behind him and move on, but finds it impossible to do so because everywhere he turns his sins are being thrown back in his face. There is no grace, no mercy, no forgiveness from these people he once called friends, many of them Christians. He will never be able to undo what he has done, but he’ll also never be able to grow and change if he lets his shame keep him from accepting the grace and forgiveness that is freely offered by Christ – the One who already paid his debt IN FULL. He’ll never grow as long as other people and their opinions distract him. I told him to focus on God, to keep his eyes GLUED on God and not on his circumstances, not on his past and not on other people and what they think or say about him. He retorted that it’s easier said than done. Trust me - I know how hard it is. I have spent a lot of time training myself and choosing EVERY DAY to live my life for an audience of ONE.
Speaking of focus and distraction, I went to a church service Tuesday night and they had this human video. Most of you churched people know what that is, but for those who don’t, it’s kind of like a silent play – done to a song. I’ve always thought they were so cheesy, but this one really spoke to me. The "video" starts out with Jesus and a girl. They walk through life and He shows her things, opens her eyes to who He his – and she begins to trust Him and they dance. As they are dancing, a handsome man walks up with a rose in his mouth and steals her away on a dance of their own. She becomes so wrapped up in him that she doesn’t see Jesus trying to get her to come back or be included in that part of her life. Soon someone else walks by with this wad of cash in his hands and as she pushes the man with the rose away, she starts snatching up money and following the guy that’s handing it out. Then a gal walks by with a tape measure – measuring her, judging her, motioning that she’s too fat, her hair is all wrong so she follows her for a while. Then comes a guy with a bottle and offers it to this girl. They eat, drink and enjoy the high and then come the pills… The money is snatched away, leaving her with drink and pills that she quickly consumes. She is alone until someone else walks in and offers her a way out – suicide. She is at the end of herself, nothing to live for, she’s lost it all and is ready to pull the trigger. All the while, Jesus is crying, trying to her attention – but each person (temptation/distraction) that comes and goes in her life push Him farther and farther away. Somehow, she remembers Him and looks back. He holds His hands out and she jumps up and tries to get to Him, but the people who are standing between her and Jesus thrash on her. They block her from getting to Him, they throw her around, push her to the ground, beat up on her. When she calls out to Him, He jumps to her rescue – finally given her permission, he picks her up, brushes her off and embraces her… and they begin to dance again.
Wow! How many times are we distracted – by love, lust, family, careers, others opinions, substances, people, "friends?" Not all of these distractions are bad things, but it’s easy to put them before our relationship with Christ. How often do we push God out of our lives and only when we are at the end of our rope do we call out for Him? I am guilty – countless times over. It’s not usually as dramatic as this little production, but rather a gradual, subtle process. He’s a gentleman though – he will never force Himself on someone who doesn’t want Him in their life. But He’s always there – waiting patiently, wanting to be let back in – wanting to be our partner in this dance of life.
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