Shepastor: "Stay Focused..."

11 Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out upward; each had two wings, one touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. 12 Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. 13 The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. 14 The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning. 15 As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. 16 This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. 17 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went. 18 Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around. 19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. 20 Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. Ezekiel 1:11-20, NIV,


It is so easy to get distracted. Focus takes work. This passage in Ezekiel is mysterious and I don’t purport to understand all that it is revealing. One thing, however, is very clear…the “creatures” followed “the spirit wherever it went.” They did not turn to the left or to the right. They worked together and moved together. That is enough for me to chew on!

These creatures seemed to travel far and rise high. As I think about their unhindered unity, their clear focus and apparent dedication to what they were doing and where they were going, I cannot help but wonder what would happen if we operated in this manner, in the Church. With one accord, they moved as the spirit moved. I wonder how far we could go and how high we would rise if we followed this same principle.

How many ministries would be more effective if God’s people worked in this manner? How many obstacles would be overcome if we had this kind of focus and unity as the Body of Christ? How many arguments would be avoided, how many committees would be disbanded, how much ecclesiastical “red tape” would be discarded if we followed this principle?

Truly as individuals and as the Church, we get distracted – majoring in the minors, and “minoring” in the majors. In our own lives we get distracted from the priorities that the Holy Spirit has set in our hearts when we begin looking “to the left and to the right.” We get distracted when we compare ourselves to others. We get distracted when we focus too much on what we don’t have. We get distracted when we allow worry, doubt and fear to banter back our faith.

Life is filled with distractions, but by the grace of God and the power of His Spirit, we can live focused lives if we, like the “creatures” listen to and obey “the Spirit.”

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Until next Wednesday,
In Faith, Hope and Perseverance,
Pastor Chris