Where's Your Focus?

Read this devotion by Tom Kraueter

Several years ago, a friend of mine went to a major league baseball game. He was seated in the upper deck in the outfield. On a whim he decided to fold his scorecard into a paper airplane. When he tossed it, he expected it would go a few rows down and crash. My friend didn’t realize how favorable the air currents were that day inside that baseball complex. So rather than flying just a few yards and stopping, it kept going. And going. And going.

People all over the stadium watched it and pointed at it. It finally came to rest in foul territory halfway between third-base and home plate. That was more than 400 feet from where he launched it. And the attention it drew over that lengthy flight was amazing. My friend tried to sink deeply into his seat as he saw hundreds of baseball fans with their gaze fixed on his airplane. People cheered when it landed. For that brief time, the attention of many was diverted from the game to a folded scorecard.

My son recently happened across an interesting video on YouTube. It was recorded at another major league baseball game, but had nothing to do with baseball. A man in the stands had fallen asleep, so another guy, seated behind him, put an empty beer cup upside down on the man’s head. When that didn’t wake him up, he put another and then another—seven in all—all stacked and nested together upside down. The sleeping man never stirred. So the cup-man—who by this time had drawn quite an audience—took another cup that was about one-third full of beer and carefully stacked that one upright atop the others. As the stack grew so did the number of onlookers.

In the background of the video you could see lots of people watching the antics. Those were just the folks within the view of the camera lens. Presumably, there were many others also. Perhaps hundreds of folks who had come to watch a baseball game were now, instead, watching a man stack cups on the head of a man asleep in the stands.

In both of these stories, if you had asked the people beforehand why they were going to the stadium that day, their answer would have been simple: “To watch a baseball game.” Oh certainly there may have a been a few who went just to spend time with family or friends, but the vast majority were there to watch the game. Prior to the game they never would have suggested that they were going into the stadium to watch a paper airplane fly or to see a guy stack cups on the head of a man who was asleep. That would be ludicrous. Yet whether or not that was their goal, that was the final outcome.

Many people who are on their way to church would declare that they are going there to worship God. Yet they are often so distracted by so many other things that the Lord becomes secondary. Even we who are involved in the worship ministries of our churches can easily be focused on the musical style or on playing the right notes or on how we look or on… [add your own here].

So check out these verses:

The twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:10-11)

There were many things in Revelation 4 that could have easily been distracting. If you read the full context, you’ll see what I mean. A beautiful rainbow. Thunder and flashes of lightning. Seven burning torches. A sea of glass. Four strange looking winged creatures full of eyes in front and back. If you want to talk about possibilities for distractions, this scene is ripe with them. Yet, it is in the midst of this scene that the twenty-four elders cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power…” Their focus clearly was on God and Him alone. That’s where ours should be, too.

Lord, forgive us for being so focused on so many peripheral things instead of on You. As we lead Your people in worship, cause our hearts and minds to be captivated by You and You alone. Amen.