Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; and let those who love Your salvation say continually, “Let God be magnified!” (Psalm 70:4)
Here is a fundamental truth: whatever we choose to focus upon, we will fear and/or revere. For instance, as long as Peter kept his eyes on Messiah, he was able to walk on water. However, as soon as he began focusing on the storm, the waves became the center of his attention, thus causing him to become fearful — that’s when he started to sink. His fear of and reverence for the wind and waves eclipsed his reverence for the Messiah, at least long enough for him to begin to founder.
Most of us will never have the opportunity to walk on water, but all of us will choose something or someone to make the focal point in our life. Some people spend their lives chasing fame and fortune and make the pursuit of riches their god. And if they attain great wealth, they go through life fearful of losing that which they have made so precious. Most of us will never realize great riches in the traditional sense, but many of us will still find other things to cherish that aren’t really worthy of our devotion. There are people who spend a lifetime collecting knick-knacks, memorabilia, stamps or you-name-it, and sometimes at the expense of covering the necessities of life.
Whether it’s great riches or ceramic figurines, if we devote our passion to them, they have the potential to become god-like to us. In short, we revere that which we focus upon. But when we leave this world, our children may care nothing about our money, property and collections. Heirs are infamous for quickly squandering what parents spent a lifetime building; children will sell off belongings in yard sales and flea markets the things parents regarded as priceless treasures. Why? Because none of these things have any eternal value — and that fact brings us to our point.
David said, “Let those who love Your salvation say continually, ‘Let God be magnified!’” In other words, those who recognize God’s greatness have a desire that love for Him will grow in their life and that their devotion will influence others. Those who pursue Him know that, over time and generations, love for finite objects will wane and disappear. On the other hand, love for the eternal God, whose glory and goodness is infinite, will steadily increase in the hearts of those who have set their focus on Him.
As I’ve said, we will fear and revere that which we focus upon which is why Messiah should always be our focal point. Furthermore, our passion for Him should be evident to our children so that they, too, will be motivated to store up treasures in Heaven. We may never walk on water, but if we make Him the center of our life, we will never founder.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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