Stay Focused to Stay Sharp

If you are like me, it is quite possible that you have sworn off reading a daily newspaper…so much is not newsworthy. It seems the paper is loaded with bad news….and more bad news. It’s enough to make your head hurt and your blood pressure rise. But one of the truths that Dr. Jeremiah shares in his book deals with this axiom…

BAD TIMES ARE COMING…. SO KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME.

It is so easy to want to run and hide or dig a great big hole and bury our head in the sand…we adopt the mentality that what we don’t know can’t hurt us. But obviously that way of thinking is sorely flawed and just leads to personal catastrophes in our families.

Too many people, even God’s people, think that because the news is so depressing, it’s best just to ignore it ….or they believe that because things are so messed up, they can’t keep up with what’s going on anyway; besides, there’s nothing they can do about the mess we’re in, so they just ignore the news and muddle on with life.

These mindsets are harmful and not what the word of God instructs us to do. In Romans 13:11, we read, “And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber” or in I Thessalonians 5:6, “So then, let us not be like others who are asleep, but let us be alert, self-controlled and sober.”

God’s Word instructs us to pay attention to what’s going on around us and to “discern the signs of the times’ (Matthew 16:3). We are living in historic and fragile times, facing global and national changes on a daily, moment-by-moment basis. We need to stay focused and we need to continue to learn so that we can discern what is taking place and how it might affect us in our homes, our jobs and in our witness….God is getting ready to open some incredible doors of witness for those who are prepared to walk through them and be used by Him in the tumultuous days that are before us.

When our daughter was about eight years old, my wife and I had the “privilege” of coaching her youth soccer team. They were a spunky bunch of younguns’, always running helter and skelter as they chased that ball around the soccer field…except for one young chap, who always seemed to be off in his own little world. I was forever hollering out to him across the field, “Ben, get your head in the game, son. You’ve got to pay attention so you will be ready if the ball gets kicked in your direction.” Ben was a fine young man, but he never became a soccer play under our tutelage. His interest and his desire was spent elsewhere…he just couldn’t seem to keep his head in the game.

Unfortunately, that seems to be true for a lot of us Christians as the time of our Lord’s return is approaching…we are just too busy with our focus on other priorities or we are just negligent in our desire to be prepared for His return…we don’t have our head in the game.

So today, let me challenge you to spend time in the Word of God as you search for the signs that God is using to signal that His return is imminent….read other books that deal with the state of affairs in our growing global economy and the consolidation of nations that is building to a one world government….listen to trusted and knowledgeable commentators and politicians that are believers and are interested in getting the truth out to us….and lastly, KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME and be ever aware of the growing amount of resources that are at your fingertips, literally just a click away.

Then, when Jesus returns, you won’t be found like my little pal Ben…..running around in circles, making yourself dizzy ….

Rather, you will be totally prepared and eagerly awaiting the glorious return of Jesus as He comes once again to earth, gathering all of His children and taking us home to be forever with Him.

Keeping my head in the game…Awaiting that Glorious Day,

WPQ