Focus on Jesus

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5) 
 
When my son, Jonathan, was eight years old, I took him deer hunting. I had told him that I would not take him deer hunting until he was able to close one eye while keeping the other one open. He needed to do this to see through the scope. He practiced and practiced and practiced. One day, he got it and said, “I'm ready to go, dad.” I took him to a little farm outside of Eden, Texas (the first place I pastored). We found a hunting blind on the ground (not up in a tree) where an eight-year-old could move around a little bit and not be seen. It was early in the morning and it was foggy.  
 
As I looked out, I suddenly saw an eight-point buck, and I said, “Jonathan, there he is.” He said, “Oh,” and he started shaking. I said, “Okay, put the gun outside.” He put the gun outside and I said, “Look at him in the scope.” He said, “I can't see him. I can't see him.” I said, “Well, then put your head above the scope. Do you see him walking along the fence line?” He said, “Yes, sir.” I said, “Now look down and look at him in the scope.” Once again, he said, “I can't see him. I can't see him.” Finally, the deer just walked off.  
 
He never could find him in the scope, as hard as he tried. With his nervous shaking, the fog, and the inability to see through the scope, it wasn’t easy. After the deer passed, I said, “Jonathan, I just need to say, you had a case of buck fever.” He looked at me at eight-years old and said, “I knew I had something.”  
 
I tell you this narrative to explain that sometimes we have a hard time focusing on what we need to see. We are easily drawn to see everything except what we truly need to focus on: Jesus Christ.  
 
Because an endless number of things are vying for our attention, we can easily get distracted. While some of those can be good, many of them are not. When they cause us to take our focus off Christ, we get into trouble. Therefore, we need to be intentional about always keeping our eyes on Jesus, especially when we are tempted to get distracted.  
 
It has been said that we become what we think about most of the time. If we constantly focus on evil things, we become that kind of person. Of course, the opposite is true, and Scripture gives us guidance in this area. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:2) Also, this Scripture is very clear, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) 
 
When you place Jesus at the center of your life, and focus intently on Him, you will become more like Christ. As people see your changed life, they will be drawn to Jesus.