Where is your FOCUS?

My parents have a boat. It’s a nice boat that’s harboured in a really pretty part of Sydney’s waterways. The few times that I’ve been out on it I’ve noticed one thing. It’s really easy to just sit there and drift. I’m not a nautical kinda gal but even I can notice that you can be anchored somewhere and still get swung around so that you have all sorts of views and get turned around from the place where you got started.

If you think a metaphor for life is coming – bingo, you get a gold star…

Over the last couple of months as I’ve been wandering around, going to conferences and meeting new people and teams I’ve often wondered about the direction that I’ve come from and where I’m heading to. To be honest, I think I started to loose my focus and so in the last few days I’ve found myself asking, “What exactly am I doing again? What and who am I doing it for?” etc..

Last week I was heading back from a campus and a new friend that I was driving with reminded me that we need to keep speaking the gospel together. It’s one thing to talk about, or rather around, the gospel but it’s another thing all together to keep speaking the message of the Cross to each other. A seemingly off handed verse reference from someone is sharpening me and reminding me that I’m not the only one. Hebrews 12:2 is a slap in the face sometimes for those of us who can drift a little. It’s about Jesus. It is only ever, past, present and future, about Jesus.

So I started to read through Hebrews and this morning have been pondering on chapters 3 and 4 in particular. I’m thankful for them and for the reminder that I am not alone, that others drift (hence the anchor analogy with the author reminding the first audience not to drift away) and that we need to keep reminding each other of the Gospel that we first heard, the message of the Grace of God that He would send His one and only Son to die an ugly brutal death on a Cross in my place for my sins and yours, and that He conquered death and my sins as proven by His resurrection three days later. The simple beauty of Grace should make us want to weep in thankfulness and joy. And yet why do we forget it? Why do we get our focus clouded? Why do we forget the joy and focus on the burdens?

Are you drifting? Are you forgetting? Are you questioning? Take it a step back to a bigger question… Are you a Christian? For anyone one of those answers I’d give you the same answer:

Go back to the Cross.

Right now.

Examine it.

Question it.
Be eternally thankful for it.

Sit down with a friend, ask your questions (for that matter send me a message or email and we can look for the answers together) but, for Gods sake (well, maybe more so for yours) go back to the Cross. Can I be any clearer?

In addition to reading the Bible (why not start with Marks gospel or join me in Hebrews – read a chunk and we can be at the same place within the next… oh… 20 mins or so?) I’d like to recommend a book that I’ve been reading this week by CJ Mahanney The Cross Centred Life. It’s a tiny book (when you’ll see it you’ll know that I could have finished it in a couple of hours) but I’m only a few chapters in because I think it’s the type of book that is good to mull over and prompts you to ask some tough questions (and some of you will know more than others what a fan I am of those!).