Thought For Today: “Where Should Our Focus Be?”

Have you ever been to the circus and watched the lion tamers? We see them with their whips and pistols. But neither of those is the most important tool in the lion tamer’s arsenal. The stool is by far the most important. Holding the stool with its four legs pointed at the lion paralyzes the lion because the lion tries to focus on all four legs at once, fragmenting its attention and making it relatively tame.

Like the lion, fragmentation of our attention paralyzes us, often through the various religious rules and regulations we allow in our lives. Therefore, by stating that the first and greatest commandment is to love God, Jesus is taking the stool out of Satan’s hands, helping us live a focused life.

Jesus takes away what the world wants us to focus on and places the focus squarely on a living, loving relationship with God.

When Jesus was pressed for an answer about which commandment was greatest, he responded in a surprising way, saying that it begins and ends with a loving relationship with God.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38)

The writer of Hebrews tells us to keep looking to Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).