Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.
Psalm 105:4
The retail industry is ramping up its assault on the American people. Christmas is weeks away, and people seem more focused on purchasing gifts and making plans to visit family and friends while deciding who brings which dish to the meal. I mean, it’s a COVID Christmas! There is a potential distraction for us all this year, and to be honest, since none of us has ever been immersed in a pandemic like we’re in now, everything is new. COVID controls many, if not all, of our decisions. What currently steals your attention, and how are you managing? I want to encourage you in three specific ways today to refocus, reclaim, and restore your attention towards the Lord. Why? Because that is what will bring real satisfaction and joy to each day.
Seek the Lord
First, we should seek the Lord. Seeking the Lord seems elementary and relatively simple, but I assure you it is not. When everything pulls for your attention, the Lord gets what is left. In most cases, that isn’t much. Am I right? I mean, if we’re honest, we can’t deny it. Reclaim your focus and put to death those things that rob the Lord of the attention He deserves. Now, I’m not saying to kill someone or something. I’m saying to refocus your attention on the Lord.
Why should we replace the Lord with something much less and often out of our control? Worry, anxiety, and planning for gifts and gatherings consume us while the Lord waits for us to get into trouble and run back to Him. Why don’t we change that pattern and seek Him first?
Seek His strength
Second, we should seek the Lord’s strength. Strength is a curious word and means His mental and physical strength. Why would we need to do that? Can’t we accomplish things on our own? Just think about how Scripture describes the Lord. He is strength, might, power, firm, a refuge, protection, a fortress, a strong tower, Creator, and majestic. His strength of mind and power is so much greater than the lesser strength of our minds. Why would we even question this admonition?
We question it because we have been taught from birth to become self-sustaining. Become a self-made man. Do it on your own. Set your kids free to succeed and make it on their own. But, no one can make it on their own and experience the kind of peace that the Lord gives us. We need to seek His strength before we reach into our bag of tricks and ideas.
Seek His face continually
We should always seek His face (presence). What does that mean? It means that we should always seek the Lord’s presence in our lives. He should be preeminent. He should take first place. He should be our first “go-to” in any event or life choice we make. But is He?
I believe if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer could be “maybe.” If that is the case, simply take this instruction and for the next month give it a try. Seek the Lord continually. Allow Him to speak to you through His word and seek to understand how His word applies to your life. Then live your life in His strength, not your own. I believe you will be amazed at how refocusing on the Lord will change your Christmas, your outlook, and your plans. Those activities considered essential are no longer necessary. They become secondary in light of the wondrous love, strength, purpose, and gift of a personal God who loves you with unconditional love.
In closing, I also believe the more we seek the Lord, the more we will want to seek the Lord. It’s like anything else in life. When we realize the benefits, we can’t help but refocus, reclaim, and restore our attention to the Lord because He absolutely and unequivocally deserves it.