Where is Your Focus?

Matthew 6:22 – “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and man.”

People often complain of seeing double, usually after trauma or due to an underlying condition. Seeing double is not fun; you can’t function properly, you get headaches because you don’t know what to focus on, and your quality of life overall is reduced.

Isn’t it crazy that this truth of our physical eyes is a reflection of a spiritual truth!

This is what Jesus says in Matthew 6. If we can’t have a single focus in our spiritual lives, we cannot live a life that is fruitful. Throughout scripture, Jesus reminds us of the importance of establishing a single focus. There’s a phrase that’s repeated throughout the Bible – “one thing”.

What is this “one thing”?

Mark 10:17-21 - “And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Luke 10:38-42 - “Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

John 9:24-25 - “So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

Philippians 3:7-13 - “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 27:4 - “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.”

These five passages highlight the importance of a single focus in our spiritual lives. What is this single focus – it’s Jesus. He is all we need, He is all we desire, His presence is all we desire, and knowing Him more is our sole pursuit.

The rich young ruler had all the riches in the world, kept all the commandments, but he was seeing double. He was focusing on all the wrong things. Jesus asked him to let go of everything and follow HIM.

Martha was caught up with all her chores and serving, that she forgot who was she was doing all of it for. She was seeing double, she was seeing her to-do lists and she was focusing on all the wrong things, that she completely missed the best thing.

The man born blind had no other testimony to give than the simple fact he knew, he was once blind, but now he sees, and at that moment, there was no greater truth.

Paul’s ultimate aim was to know Jesus, it was his sole pursuit. So much so that he laid down his comfort, pleasure, and pride to run after this one thing. Paul was not seeing double.

David was called “a man after God’s own heart.” Although David could have desired many things, as he was king, we see him relentlessly return his focus to God. David sought the presence of God more than any earthly treasure.

Our lives are to be singularly focused on Jesus. We have so much in this world pulling our focus away, whether it is our career, school, relationships, or possessions. We are constantly seeing double. When we strain to follow Him, our hearts are filled with joy and purpose and love. When we fix our eyes on Him, we receive the one thing our souls truly long for: Himself.