04/02/2025
What is the focus of our life? Is there something or someone that fascinates us beyond anyone, or anything we have ever known? Are we infatuated with the things of this world, or do our thoughts center on God and Jesus? Do we find our attention to be fixed on the divine, or on the physical world around us? The question I am hoping we will pose to ourselves today is this… Are we predominantly spiritual beings who are passing through a physical place, or physical creatures living out our lives in the world? Our answer will ultimately determine whether we are fascinated with Jesus or fixed on earthly things.
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life[a]—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”
1 John 2:15-17 ESV
Before Saul of Tarsus was knocked down, blinded, told what he must do, had his vision restored, and then dedicated his life to Jesus, he was a Jew who believed in God and the Law. Truthfully, he was more concerned with what he had to do physically to be righteous, and grace was a foreign concept to him. Then after his experience on the road to Damascus he had an experience with the divine, and as he began to learn and grow in Christ he ran headlong into God’s grace… a purely spiritual concept.
“But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.”
Acts 9:22 ESV
All of this occurred to him before his name was changed from Saul to Paul. So, when we look at our spiritual lives, where do we stand? Have we been blinded to the world and convicted by Christ? Are we still of the belief that we can earn our way into heaven by doing worldly things? Or are we somewhere in the progression of faith from believing our salvation hinges on what we do, to understanding that we are saved by grace? I search daily to insure that I am traveling in the right direction; I believe that I have already been blinded to the world, told what I must do, had my vision of the world restored (albeit changed), and am now in the process of growing and acting on my mission of faith... but this way has two directions... forward and back. Which way did yesterday take me? Will today bring me closer to Jesus, or will I look back on where I was in the world?
There is nothing that can separate us from Jesus and the love of God accept ourselves. There is a scripture that details all those things that cannot separate us, and some believe it to say "once saved always saved," but there is one name missing from the list... ours.
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39 KJV
God loves us always, but will we love Him? God’s grace flows through Jesus, and He became the sacrifice that has allowed us to come before God in righteousness and purity, but it is our choice whether or not we will accept Him as our lamb, and to remain in Him. Pastor Oswald Chambers warns us of straying with these words...
"Never allow anything to deflect you from insight into Jesus Christ. It is the test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you." - Oswald Chambers
So, it is up to us. We are not robots or puppets, and the choice of which direction we will walk on our road of faith, or for that matter, whether we will go down that road at all, is up to us. But, once we decide to walk this road, will we remain fascinated by Jesus? Will we be consumed by the love of God? Or, will we be blindly led back to Jerusalem where we go about our lives with a minimal experience of faith?
When I was a young boy, I had a fascination with astronomy. I studied our solar system and became absorbed in learning all I could about it. There was one book in particular that detailed the sizes, distances from the sun, and how far it was from earth to our neighboring planets. I was infatuated by our solar system, and at that time in my life I could quote all of those distances and sizes to you. I knew the composition of every planet, its diameter and circumference, and whether it could possibly support life. I could name every moon around every planet, and all the known features of our solar system. I couldn't get enough... this is the fascination that Paul had for his faith in Jesus. He couldn't get enough. He chose Jesus as his savior and he never again separated himself from the love of God.
Unfortunately, I lost my fascination for our solar system and the universe. It is hard to say when that happened, because it occurred so slowly, but nonetheless, I can't quote you any of those distances or sizes today. I didn't make a conscious decision to stop studying or remembering those facts... it just happened over time. If we are not diligent in our studies of God's Word, and focused on our faith every day, then this could very well happen to us on our walk with Jesus and our love of God. We won't turn suddenly away but just drift apart until one day we will no longer see them. When that happens, the journey to reunite with them may be nearly as daunting as it was in the beginning when we were first led to believe… we may need to be knocked down and blinded once again, and our fascination rekindled within us.
Each day we will make a choice. It may be a conscious or subconscious one, but we will make it nonetheless. To determine what we will choose, we must first understand where we are in our faith. Have we been walking down a physical road through life, back and forth along the same stretch of spiritual road that is our faith, or in fascination with Jesus Christ towards eternity in God’s presence? Are we wearing out one short section of road after becoming satisfied with remaining there? Have we lost our way totally and are now drifting back towards where we were before our journey of faith began? Or are we diligently watching each step and listening for the voice of Jesus as He calls us on? Where are we? When was the last time we asked ourselves this question?
Each morning we begin a new day, and like a shepherd who rises and decides where he will graze his flock, we must decide where we will take our faith. Where will we best be fed? Is it up the mountain? Through the valley? Beside the still waters? Into the forest? In the bordering pasture? Or do we remain camped here for another day? The choice is ours, but if we listen to Jesus and study God’s Word, then we will most certainly make the right choice. We must maintain our fascination with Him and an unwavering love of God. Then perhaps, like Saul, we will come to understand grace and will receive a new name from God as we walk with Him through eternity.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for loving me and sending your Son Jesus Christ to redeem me. Thank you for your grace which flows through Him and fixes my attention on you who are spiritual. Father, you are the greatest love in my life. My fascination for You and your son Jesus is all encompassing, and my most overwhelming fear is that I might become complacent and remain in a place without hearing you calling me on. Shout to me Lord, never let me miss your call, or trail so far behind Jesus that I lose sight of your flock. Keep me in your presence in the evening as we recline on the hillside above the flock and recount the day's journey. Let me always be pleasing in your sight and in all things remain obedient to your command and attentive to your whistle. May my passion for you lead me ever closer to your side, and may all you teach, and every step of my walk with Jesus remain my obsession always. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God whose grace abounds in Jesus and flows over me. Holy are you who has hidden me in you with Jesus and washed away the dust of my earthly sin from me with His redeeming blood. Hear this my prayer, see in my heart that my fascination is in Christ, and know that you are the focus of my life, and my eternal love. Praised be your name Abba,,, now and for forevermore.
Amen, Amen, Amen!
Supporting Scripture:
“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
John 1:17 ESV
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”
Romans 3:23-24 ESV
“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4:24 ESV
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”
Colossians 3:1-4 ESV
Rich Forbes