Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:2
When I was growing up, I hated golf. I had never even played it, but it always seemed to me to be a wimpy sport, if it could even be called a sport. I swung a club once or twice in high school, but still was not interested because of all the other sports I was involved in. But when I graduated from college and got married, my brother-in-law asked me if I wanted to play, so I decided to give it a try. I don’t know what changed, but I was hooked. I had a lot of work to do to even learn how to correctly swing a club. I don’t know if my first few rounds could even legally be called golf. I set to work, doing everything I could to learn about the game. If I was going to play golf, I wanted to play it well.
I used several video courses, and one of the things that really stuck out to me from one of the instructors dealt with staying out of the hazards (which is where I spent a majority of my time for quite a while). He basically said not to look at the hazards as something that I have to aim away from, but to look at the fairway and the flag as something I can aim toward. In other words, if all I did was put my focus on the things that would be harmful to my overall score, then all I would be doing is focusing on things that would make me nervous. If I focus on the flag, then I can hit a shot just as I would if there were no hazards at all.
The same is true in life. If all I do is focus on the things that I have to stay away from to have a successful Christian life, then my thoughts will be consumed with things that are harmful for me. However, if I put my focus on Jesus Christ where it belongs, then all the other things in the world seem to just fade away as if they were not even there. Of course, those things are still there and must be avoided, but why should I allow myself to be distracted by them if I have such a wonderful place to aim my affections – on Jesus Christ?
Read also: Colossians 3:1-11
Quote of the day: “Keep your face to the sunshine and the shadows will always fall behind.”
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