Don't lose your Focus!

Stay focused!

We have to be aware of both the blessings...and the dangers of God's presence in our lives.

Dangers you might ask.

Yup...Being called by God has enormous benefits...and enormous costs. The stakes are always high. And the cloud of glory that takes over your life...and seeps out into all areas of your life...can be both beautiful and frightening.

And because there are two sides of the  chosenness coin...unfathomable privilege and unbelievable responsibility...it can easily go to your head. Even when you THINK you know better. Even if you are the wisest person in the world.

Case in point...King Solomon. The glory of Solomon's kingdom...his stuff and his things...had begun to overshadow his sense of dependence on God. He was in danger of self-sufficiency...the first step in creating distance between us and God.

And just as with Solomon...God will warn us before things get too far out of hand. He will remind us that God's people are not defined by what they have or what they can do but by His presence and calling on our lives and by His Word. God can...and wants to bless us...but only when we play by His rules.

We tend to ride high after we have an encounter with God...and if we aren't careful to stay in God's Word and to be in constant prayer...we begin to feel the sharpness of the duality of our chosenness. The cost of discipleship is high, but the cost of non-discipleship is soooooo much higher.

That's a huge lesson for all of us.

Our dependence on God causes blessings to just rain down on our lives...but it gets tricky when those blessings cause us to forget our original dependence...it is at this point when we miss out on the ways God wants to continue to shower us with His blessings.

We get blinded by stuff and things so we lose sight of His presence. And then...just like Solomon...we turn away from pure and unadulterated devotion to God.

Solomon ended up worshiping at pagan altars and wondering why his life seemed so empty. And it wasn't because his wisdom wasn't valid...remember...that was a gift from God...but It was because he "outgrew" his dependence on God.

Solomon lost his focus.

Don't lose yours.