Laser Focus

“Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.” (Pr 4:25 AV)

Half the battle over sin can be won if we are aware of what we are looking.  The rest of this chapter, Solomon tells his son to order his steps carefully.  This is sound advice.  Before we can order our steps, we have to be looking in the right direction. 

What we allow our eyes to be drawn to often puts us off course, or at the very least, distracts us as to where we are going.  You can ask my wife.  I can be very bad at keeping my eyes on the road if we are going through new country.  Especially if there are deer in the field.  I used to be very bad at this.  The yellow lines and the shoulder were my friends.  Especially in my younger adult life wherein, I was an avid deer and turkey hunter, the spring and fall fields were an allurement often stronger than the lines on the road.  This was, even more, the case when we lived in a city and we traveled in the country.  It got particularly difficult around hunting season.  Now, it is not so much prey that distracts, but rather being in a new area with much to look at.  Things like antique shops, older quaint looking businesses, or traditional homes that might draw my attention.  Such was the case on a recent trip.  Going through the twisting hills of West Virginia is not the best place to lose one’s focus.  One cannot help it.  The culture of West Virginia is rich and colorful.  There is much to look at, contemplate, and admire.  To me, country life is something I truly relish.  City living is just fine.  There is something to be said for all one would need no more than five miles away.  There is something to be said for the unlimited opportunities to witness to someone new.  But for the sheer pleasure of living, country living can’t be beaten.  Going through the hills, my eyes were not right on.  At least not all the time.  This made for interesting, and close to, hazardous driving. 

How many of us get upset when we see someone on their cell phones while trying to navigate a car?  In particular, when the driver is trying to text or read something off his or her cell phone?  I find myself yelling through closed widows to put the phone down.  A driver like that endangers themselves and everyone else who is around.  We do the same thing when we allow our attention to be diverted from the path the LORD has chosen for us.  This path is a path of faith and obedience.  We stray because the allurement of sin, the cares of this life, or the desire for contentment make it so.  We fail because we lose our laser focus.  That laser focus that should be tuned into the word of God and powered by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is taken off course by something of no lasting value.  To be a successful king, Solomon’s son must keep his focus.  To be a profitable servant of the LORD, we too must keep our focus dialed in and laser pointed to the will of God!