I read a post this afternoon that ended with “how can you seek and pursue Jesus on a deeper level”? That is deep, and it immediately struck me as another item to add to my to-do list: Seek Jesus **check**
Do I need to seek Jesus, or do I need to focus on God?
I interchange Jesus and God when I think of them as the Holy Trinity. I guess you could try interchanging the word “focus” and “seek”, but I don’t think so.
To seek something, my focus is constantly facing outward. I would be on high alert everywhere I went. My focus would be on everything outside of me, making sure I didn’t miss Jesus somewhere. My FOMO would kick in, because what if that was where I missed him that day?
In contrast, to focus brings ‘tunnel vision’ to mind. Physically God made our eyes to focus on one thing at a time. Mentally I am a mess if I try to focus on more than one thing. Jesus reminds us in Matthew 22:37, 38:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”
Jesus isn’t saying to fellow believers ‘seek me’, he says ‘love my father with all your heart, soul, and mind’! And then what? Matthew 22: 39
“And the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself”
As a Christian, I have already given my life to Jesus - my seeking is over. Now my focus can shift to strengthening my relationship with him and living an obedient life. This is a lifelong and worthy pursuit that is accomplished through God’s Word, prayer, and allowing the Holy Spirit to work within me.
If I am putting together a to-do list, I’m only putting Jesus’s top requests:
Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind
Love your neighbor as yourself
These are the two basics that first God commanded, and then Jesus reminded.
The Holy Spirit is most alive within me when I am pouring my heart, soul, and mind (or focus) into God and asking him to move through me.
My freedom and rest comes from knowing the Holy Spirit works within me to complete the second to-do list item: Love your neighbor as yourself.
That brings me immense joy, it takes the stress out of my shoulders and it gives me the energy to give every second of my life to God. Praise Him! - JJ