Topical Studies
Focus, Spiritual
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Matthew 6:22-24 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Jesus urges single-mindedness! The teaching here involves simplicity of intention in living one's life. In light of verse Matthew 6:33, verse 24 shows we must focus our attention on our highest priority. When that is done, it indicates devotion to purpose and undivided loyalty to the object of that purpose. In geometry, it is impossible to draw more than one straight line between two points. Though other lines may start at the same point, only one will reach the second point. All others end up somewhere else. Likewise, a person who tries to focus on several goals at once has no clear orientation, and he will wind up elsewhere. Some commentaries note that the ancients believed that light entered a person through the eyes, the "windows" of the body. If the eyes were in good condition, the whole body benefited from the unimpeded light. If the eye were not sound or "single," the whole body's effectiveness was diminished. Thus a person who single-mindedly pursues God's Kingdom and His righteousness will have moral healthiness and simple, unaffected goodness.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Simplify Your Life!
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Colossians 3:2 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Paul is telling us where the focus of our attention needs to be. We can give our minds over to a lot of things, for instance, to our jobs—and there is a place for that. We can give our minds over to physical things—exercise, eating well, and so forth—and there is a place for these, too. Indeed, humans need to set their minds on many things, but they need to be prioritized correctly—put into the right niche and position. Then each of these things has to be seen in relation to the Kingdom of God. Our priorities must be set according to this standard—the overriding goal of our Christian lives. "Set your mind on things above" adjusts the focus of our attention so that we do not become distracted by things that are less important for any longer than needed, so that they occupy the right proportion and amount of time in our lives.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Titus 2:11-14
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1 Peter 3:15 (Go to this verse :: Verse pop-up)
Sanctify means "set apart." It means, in this case, "make God the focus of one's thoughts, of one's approach to life, of the circumstance that one finds himself in." Is this not what Peter forgot to do in Matthew 16? Satan's disinformation was the focus of Peter's response to Jesus—not God's thoughts. If God's thoughts or words had really been sanctified in Peter's heart at that time, he never would have said what he did. He would have said something like, "Yes, Jesus, I understand. That's what the scripture says." But instead, he disagreed with God. When one sanctifies God in his heart, then the Word of God becomes the focus, not the word of the spirit of this world.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Satan (Part 4)
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