Obsessed

 In Blog, Charles Cavanaugh

One of the most difficult and important things in any sport is focus. Great athletes have learned to stay focused almost to the point of obsession. Their physical abilities are put to maximum use because of their mental sharpness. In fact, some with lesser abilities have maximized their effectiveness by building and maintaining focus.

 

More importantly, godly saints have been able, by God’s grace, to maintain focus in their walk with God. Mary stayed focused on fellowship with Christ while Martha was distracted by “many things”. John stayed close by the Lord’s side, so much so that Peter looked to him when he wanted something from The Lord. The Apostle Paul was obsessed with Christ, referring to himself often as “a man in Christ”. He was totally focused on “the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus“.

 

Perhaps no one had more distractions from what matters most than King David. He had all the responsibilities of national leadership plus many enemies domestic and foreign. In Psalm 57, he describes multiple calamities which seemed to inundate his life. Terms like “swallow me up” and “My soul is among lions” show the nature of David’s overwhelming problems.

 

But David was a man obsessed; a man with a glorious fixation, as he tells us in verse seven of that Psalm. “My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed.” No distraction could brake his obsession with God. And notice the things that arrested his attention: the steadfast love of God; “For Your mercy is great unto the heavens,”; the truth of God; “and Your truth unto the clouds”; and the glory of God; “let Your glory be above all the earth.”

 

I would be the first to acknowledge that David faced significant challenges staying focused. There are certainly events in his life that testify to this. Yet no distraction was allowed to remain permanent. His heart was fixed on his God: His goodness, His truth, His glory.

 

May we live with such a glorious fixation. May we, like saints of old, be obsessed with our God, our Savior, our Lord. Distractions will come and go and often abound, but they need not permanently keep us from focusing on what matters most. Life is short, and eternity is long. Others may think us strange or foolish. Let us not be moved by such things. Keep the eyes of the heart fixed on Christ.

 

Charles Cavanaugh

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Comments
  • Laura

    Wonderful!!!

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