We live in a day of sensory overload with social media at our fingertips.  With Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc…we can easily lose focus of our reality and responsibility given to us by our Creator while we’re all over the world, with all sorts of people, in a single sitting of scrolling. We often hear and have experienced ourselves, how our society struggles with focus.  Our minds are all over the place like a Facebook newsfeed.  We regularly have to make a conscious decision to put our minds to the task at hand if we’re going to accomplish it. If we feel like our life is out of control, or somehow we’ve gotten off track and unable to get a sure footing, the Scriptures give us the knowledge we need to be able to get refocused and realigned in our lives.

Proverbs 4:23-27 says; “23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. 24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious speech far from you. 25 Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. 26 Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. 27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil.”

The word watch in this verse is the Hebrew word nasar, Strong’s number 5341.  It means to guard, to protect, maintain, watch over.  If we will receive and obey the knowledge of this Word and watch our hearts like we watch other things, we will be a bubbling brook of life that pours out and nourishes everything around us.  But there is a key…we must keep our eyes directly ahead, fixed straight in front of us. This is focus!!!  This has to be intentional!! It doesn’t happen automatically.  If it did, the Word would not be advising it.  Our forefathers strayed when they looked too long at that which was never intended for them.  Our actions follow what our eyes are fixed on.  If you’ve ever played baseball, softball, basketball, sewed a garment, driven a vehicle, doesn’t matter, if you keep your eye focused on the ball, the hoop, the road, the sewing machine guide…whatever it is, the rest follows through.  But if we get distracted and look to the right or to the left and take our eyes off of what is in front of us, we will miss the mark.  That is the definition of sin…missing the mark.  1 John 3:4 tells us what the mark is…“sin is transgression, or missing the mark, of the law/Torah/teachings and instructions.”

Proverbs 8:8-10 says; “8 All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing crooked or perverted in them. 9 “They are all straightforward [Moving forward, moving ahead, straight], to him who understands and right to those who find knowledge. 10 “Take my instruction  [Counsel], and not silver, and knowledge rather than choicest gold.”

May the Spirit of Knowledge in today’s verses be imparted to us.  May we pray and ask for the grace to get refocused and realigned in our hearts and minds so that we are looking straightforward, directly ahead; not looking to the right or to the left.  This will require us to examine our daily practices and make some changes so that we guard, protect, maintain and watch over our hearts. If we do this we will be a spring of life!!!

Have a blessed and shalom filled preparation day!!!

Tammy

Courtesy of

River of Life Tabernacle
Tammy McLendon
Great peace have they who love Your law. Psalm 119:165a