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Destinations, Part 4: Paying Attention
November 7th, 2010
The whole series is based upon the premise that direction determines destination. It makes sense, right?
-When it comes to driving down a highway or hiking through the woods, we know that it’s the roads we take… the paths we travel down that will determine our destination.
-And yet, in so many other parts of our lives, whether we talking about our finances, relationships, marriages, ministries…
-we have this idea that if we just intend to be somewhere, than we’ll somehow just get there.
And so, in the first message in this series, we spoke about the disconnect we so often have between our desired destination and the actual road we choose to go down…
-the disconnect between our intentions and the paths we choose in life.
-And yet, it’s our paths… not our intentions, not our hopes or dreams, but our paths that will determine our destination.
-And then, in week two, we spoke about the need to respond appropriately to the warning signs that appear from time to time as we travel along the paths we’ve chosen in life.
We looked at Proverbs 27, which talk about how “The prudent see danger and take refuge but the simple keep going and suffer for it.”
-Then,last time we came back and said that even if we were the wisest, most intuitive person in the world…
-thatwhen it comes to choosing paths that lead us to desired destinations, we need still God...
-Not only in those areas in which we know we need God’s help… but even in those areas of life where we feel confident and competent to go it on our own.
We talked aboutSolomon, one of the wisest men of the world, who at the end of this life, chose to lean on his own wisdom in one particular area…
-and that decision led not only to the ruin of his own family, but the division of Israel as well.
-You see, all of his God-given wisdom and judgment were just not enough… not for Solomon… and not for us.
-Through every single day, in every decision we make, we need lean not on our own understanding, but God’s.
And yet, can’t we all look back at our lives and recognize whole seasons that were lost or wasted because we consciously or unconsciously got on the wrong path…
-A path, that, if we had just chosen to lean on His understanding instead of our own, could have led, instead, to such a better place…
-Thinking that it’s going to lead us to one destination when, in fact, that path we chose had such a predictable destination.
Maybe you thought that you could head on Rt. 80 West, for example, and yet, still make it to New York City. But it just won’t ever happen. And why?
-Because we’re talking about a principle from Scripture. At times we might convince ourselves that we can break this principle… but the reality is, we’ll end up breaking under it.
-One way or another, it’s our direction… not our desires; notour intentions; not our hopes… that determines our destination.
Well, this morning as we close this series, I want to add one last layer to this principle of the path.
-And, as I begin, I want to, as we’ve done each week, thank pastor/author, Andy Stanley, who’s both written and spoken about this “principle of the path.”
-It’s a principle, as I’ve said, that may be intuitive in the arena of driving or walking…
-but when it comes to ourfinances, marriage, spiritual life, morality, relationships, business, education, and so on… for some reason, we just over look them.
But it’s like any other principle. It will impact your life… whether you know it or not… whether you embrace it or not or admit it or not.
-Ok… so, here’s the rest of the formula:Direction determines your destination…
-But, often times, it’s the things or people that grab or capture our attention that influencethe direction of our lives.
You see, when something grabs or captures your attention, there’s a sense in which you turn in that direction…
-And, because of that, the things that grab or capture your attention can potentially influence the direction of your entire life.
-When Joyce and I lived in Central Asia, a Vineyard pastor from Evanston, IL, brought a team to bless those of us who were there long-term.
Seeing how they ministered… not just that they prayed for the sick… but how they prayed for the sick.
-Not just that they shared words of knowledge… but how they shared them… it all had a huge impact on me.
-Their humble, dialed-down, “naturally supernatural” approach to ministry had a huge impact on me.
I always believed in what some people call the “charismatic gifts” such as prophecy and healing…
-but the only people I’ve ever seen model this stuff were “swinging-on-the-chandelier” Pentecostals. But they weren’t like that.
-These guys captured my attention… and my life has never been the same.
Back in 1991, I had moved to PA and began attending a church I had gone to while in college.
-Well, at some point during the service, a girl caught my attention… someone I knew a bit in college… someone I liked.
-Turns out, she had liked me. Some months later we had our first date… and a year after that, we were married!
-Boy did she capture my attention and there went the direction of my life. I’m just going along doing my thing and, “Whoa!”Life would never be the same!
We’ve all had those kinds of defining momentswhere we’re just traveling along and something or someone captures or grabs our attention.
-And as we look back, we can see just how the things that capture and grab our attention influence the direction of our life.
-Now, of course, what I just shared were a few good examples.
-But the truth is that, for each and every one of us, there have been events, opportunities, things or people that have grabbed our attention…
-Where, in looking back, we wished we had walked right past them.
You see, for all of us, there are peoplewe wish we would’ve never met. Relationships we wish we never had…
-business opportunitieswe wish we would have ignored… websites we wish we had stayed clear of.
-And yet, as we spoke about in our first message, the reason we continue down these paths isbecause there’s something on that path that is very powerful and emotionally engaging.
-That’s why we use the language… she/he“grabbed” my attention… it “captured” my attention… and so I put the left blinker on and took a left.
There are things that have captured your attention and affection that, again, you wish you had just glanced at and kept going.
-But you did what we’ve all done at some point… “Yeh, I shouldn’t go there… but maybe I should take a few laps around there just to make sure I shouldn’t go there.”
-And the next thing you know is that you’re in a very different place in life… wondering how in the world you got where you are.
But not only do things people capture or grab our attention. But there are those things or people we choose to giveour attention to… payattention to.
-And yet, there’s a big difference between what grabs our attention and what we choose to give our attention to.
-Grabbing our attention is about capturing our emotion. Giving our attention to is all about intentionality… a decision we make.
-There’s no doubt as you look back on your life that there are things you wish you had given more of your attention to.
-You may have wish that you had given or paid more attention to your health.
You may wish, now, that you had given more attention to how you handled your finances: how you paid attention to your marriage… or spiritual life.
-I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone share with regret how, at a certain period of time in his or herlife; they simply paid no attention to their faith.
-“I wish I would have paid more attention to my relationship with Jesus… but something captured/grabbed my attention and became of that, I stopped paying attention to Jesus.”
You see, whatever gets our attention in life, whether they’re grabbed or given,influences the direction of our lives… as well as the lives of those around us.
-Imagine how different your life would be today, for example, if your father or mother had paid more attention to certain things in your life.
-Imagine how different your life would be today if your parents had paid more attention to their marriage.
-Imagine how different your life would be today if your child had paid more attention to who or what they were getting involved with.
-Imagine how different how YOUR life would be different. And why?
Because the things that get our attention… whether we choose to give them our attention or whether they grab our attention…
-Determine the direction of our lives… and direction ultimately determines our destination.
-If we all looked back at our lives, it’s very clear that we’ve all been impacted by this.
-But here’s why this is so important for us today.
In your life right now, you may have chosen to give and pay attention to something or someone…
-Right now there may be something that has captured or is grabbing a hold of your attention.
-There are some things that have gotten your attention and the first time you’ve glanced in that direction…
-The first time you listened to that proposal… and you thought, nah… but you kept entertaining the thought as they hounded you and slowly it is beginning to capture your attention.
And then on the flip side there are some of youwhose lives have never been better…
-Because you’ve begun to pay attention or give your attention to things that will ultimately benefit you.
-You see, generally speaking, it’s the things that grab or capture my attention that are generally the most dangerous.
On the other hand, the things that I generally choose to give my attention to are often the things that move me closer to becoming the person I want to be.
-Either way… right now… whatever has captured your attention… or whatever you’re giving your attention to…
-right now, in this moment… they are impacting the direction of your entire life… whether financially, relationally, spiritually, morally, professionally, whatever it might be.
Truth is, that over and over again through Scripture, God reminds us how the things we pay attention direct our lives…
-That the things you give your attention to and the things that capture your attention… have the potential of influencing the direction of your entire life.
-In Psalm 119:35, for example, David shares his heart with God…“Direct me in the path of your commandsfor there I find delight.”
-Direct me, God… guide me in the paths that You have for me.
Then in verse 37, he says… “Turn my eyes (turn my attention) away from worthless things.”
-“God, would you help turn my eyes away from worthless things.”
-And why? Because if I focus on worthless things, then so often, I’ll find myself moving in the direction of worthless things.
-Again, all of us, no matter where we’re at spiritually… everyone of us can tell a story in our livesabout when our attention got fixed on something we knew we should walk away from.
So, David writes here… “Please, I want my eyes to be fixed on things that matter. Don’t let me get fixated on things that are worthless because attention influences direction and every direction has a destination.”
Then look at the last part of verse 37. He writes, “Turn my eyes away from worthless things: preserve my life according to your word.”
-In other words, I don’t want to end up at some stage of life and wonder, “how in the world did I gethere?”
-“Preserve my life, God… direct me in the path of your commands… turn my eyes away from worthless things… help me set my gaze on You… for its then that I’ll find delight.”
Then, his son, Solomon weighs in on this a bit in Proverbs 4:25-27. He says, “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought/attention to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways.”
“Let your eyes look straight ahead.” Why is this repeated so often in Scripture? Because whatever gets your attention determines your direction in life.
-And what so often captures your attention isn’t straight ahead but to your left or right.
-Joyce and I were in Holland a number of years ago… but unlike today where I’d have every detail planned, we just showed up at the airport, took at train into Amsterdam, and looked around for a hotel.
-Turns out, there was a kiosk at the train station there where you could book a hotel. So, I picked a relatively cheap one.
After we dropped our stuff off in the little room (that shared a bathroom with at least a few other rooms), we ventured out for a walk.
-And, within a few minutes, Joyce pointed out that there were naked women in a bunch of the storefronts on either side of the cobblestone road we were walking down.
-Well, leave it to me to book us a hotel in the middle of the red-light district!
Needless to say, I walked through that area with my eyes fixed straight ahead of me… giving “careful attention to the path” in front of me!
-“Fix your gaze,” he says… “Be intentional about setting your attention to what’s ahead of you.”
-“Don’t let whatever might be to the left or right of youcapture your gaze or grab your attention.
-Fix your gaze directly before you. Don’t swerve to the right or to the left… keep your foot from evil.”
What’s he referring to? From time to time in life, whether it’s relationally, financially… you name the arena…
-We’re going to be tempted to allow our gaze to go where it doesn’t need to go. And, where our gaze goes, we go.
-As our attention goes, we go. And so, if something grabs or captures our attention, it grabs/captures our lives… our future.
-So Solomon says, “Let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.”
-Make the decision to pay attention… to be purposeful in giving your attention to the right things.
Then, hundreds of years later, Jesus weighs in, a number of times, on this same principle. InMatthew 6:22, for example, He says this…
-“The eye is the lamp of the body.” Let me unpack that a bit. In those days, they obviously didn’t have electricity.
-So, when they walked out at night they carried oil lamps.And, they’d walk with these lanterns in front of them…
-Or sometimes on a pole because the further out the lantern was the future out they could see.
So, basically, knowing their destination, they’d just follow the light till they got to where they were going. Where the light went, they’re entire body went.
-In other words, your eye… the things you choose to look at, to gaze upon, to pay attention to…
-is like the lantern of your entire life… the light of your life.
-What you pay attention to will direct your entire life. And, as a body follows a light, your life follows your eyes… what you gaze upon.
In that second part of that verse, Jesus says,“If your eyes are healthy (good, wholesome, or pure)… your whole body will be full of light.”
-And what this means as you read the entire passage is that, “If your eyes are focused on good things, it will impact your entire life.”
-But, if your eye is unhealthy or bad, He says inverse 23, your body or your life will be full of darkness.
-In other words, the things you choose to pay attention to will direct your life. Attention influences direction…. And direction determines destination.
And then years and years later… the author of Hebrews says almost the same exact thing to a group of Christians who were beginning to get distracted themselves.
-In chapter 2:1, he writes: “We must pay more careful attention therefore to what we have heard so that we do not drift away.”
-In other words, if you’re not purposeful to pay attention to the right things, you’ll eventually get distracted.
-And as your eyes go, so you go. As your attention goes… so you go.
-So, keep your eyes straight ahead of you… and, the way to do this is to pay attention.
When I started riding a motorcycle, it was always so tempting to fix my eyes right in front of me.
-It makes sense… without the benefit of a steel cage around you, its good to know whether there’s a big pothole in front of you or not!
-But, as important as it is to look at the condition of the road in front of you, what you really need to do is to pay attention to where you’re wanting to go.
-When you took driver’s ed back in high school, for example… they’d tell you to not fix your attention on the yellow line on your left or right… or the car on your left or right… and why?