SET YOUR FOCUS

I like people to know who they are, where they are going, and why they are doing what they are doing. It is alleged that when young James Garfield entered Hiram College as a youth, he went with a limited preparation, but that he had one clear purpose in mind. He went for the one-and-only purpose of obtaining the best education he could find.

Garfield’s singleness of purpose allowed him to squeeze six years of study into three and earn the degree he so earnestly coveted degree. Having no other purpose in mind, the future President taught school for a time so he could feed himself, “shut the whole world out from his mind save that little portion of it within the range of his studies, ”and focus upon his one pearl of great price.

James Garfield admitted to knowing “nothing of politics or the news of the day, reading no light literature, and engaging in no social recreations that took his time from his books” (General James S. Brisbin, James A. Garfield. Philadelphia: Hubbard Brothers, 1880, p. 72).

That singleness of focus enabled Garfield to eventually win a seat in Congress and finally ascend to the Presidency of the United States. The intensity of his focus revealed itself when ist came time for him to reflect on the more severe critics of his presidency. Garfield concluded, “I would rather be beaten in right, than succeed in wrong” (Garfield, p. 28l).

So: What is it that captures your attention? What grabs and holds your interest? When Jesus told his disciples to seek the Kingdom of God first, and their needs would be met (Matthew 6:33); what did he mean? Was Jesus telling his disciples that for them to acquire God’s divine dividends, their was no other way than to fully focus on the will of The Father?

When walking with Jesus, if we want to maintain our focus, we must prioritize God’s will, and singularly focus upon His Presence, without regard for other issues. John Egglen was a simple man, without complication, but he was a dedicated deacon in the little Methodist church of Colchester, England.

One snowy night, no more than a handful of people were in attendance for the evening worship. The minister of his church failed to make it. Nonetheless, John Egglen was present, and that night, John Egglen preached the sermon. It was a simple, poorly-prepared sermon. However, it touched a thirteen-year-old visitor who found his way there that cold snowy night.

Later, the young visitor revealed, “Then and there the cloud on my heart lifted, the darkness rolled away, and at that moment I saw the sun.” Today, we remember that thirteen-year-old visitor as the renowned Charles Haddon Spurgeon! Just five years later young Spurgeon took charge of a small congregation at a place called Water-beach, Cambridgeshire. When but twenty years of age, that same young preacher moved on to London where he served as pastor of the famed New Park Street Chapel.

Spurgeon’s immediate popularity made it necessary for them to construct the famed Metropolitan Tabernacle of London in 1861. There, Mr. Spurgeon frequently preached to an audience of as many as 10,000 on any given Sunday. From 1854 on, Spurgeon’s popular sermons, were published weekly and eventually they were collected into 50 volumes, many that are highly valued by multitudes of readers today.

James A. Garfield committed to singleness of purpose that enabled him to acquire his education and qualify himself to become the future president of the United States. Singleness of purpose led John Egglen to obey God on a snowy night with a small attendance, and preach a sermon that led to the conversion of a man who became one of our best-known preachers of the second half of the nineteenth century.

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Inviting you to consider the challenge that Jesus issued to all who would become one of his disciples: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” proclaimed Jesus, “and all these things shall be added to. Maintain your focus and you will find interest-paying dividends you can find no where else.