Topic: Focus on Jesus
Reading: Romans 14:7-9
7 None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Introduction and Overview
It is easy in this world to become distracted. There are so many things seeking our attention that it is hard sometimes to keep our minds and feet on the straight and steady path. Many people today use all kinds of things to take them away from a pure and undivided focus on Jesus. But if we are to live in Him and grow to maturity as Christians, then we have to learn to remove distractions and focus on Jesus.
If we stop and think for a moment, the core of this life is about preparing us for the next life. The Christian path is meant to lead us to God and to eternal life. We have to learn how to live and walk as Christ walked. All of this is preparation for eternity. And if eternal life with the Lord is your goal, now is the time to get your focus right. Now is the time to remove yourself from the multitude of distractions that bombard you every minute of the day. Focus on Jesus and on His teachings, because that is the only way we will receive the promises of God.
Key points from reading:
- Focus on Jesus in every aspect of your life
- We are not our own, we were bought with a price, and that price was the blood of Jesus shed for you and I.
- And even when we die, we are still His people when we live a life with Jesus as our central focus.
Discussion:
- Scripture: Romans 14:7
- It is an important point being made in this verse. None of us lives to ourself or dies to ourself. These words are all about where our focus should be at all times. And the key thing that we see is that our focus should not be on ourselves.
- Focusing on yourself is selfishness. People who are selfish believe that they and their own desires are more important than anyone else, including Christs. A person who lives for themself is self-centred, greedy, selfish, arrogant, and so on. They have no care for others and they do not care for the ways of the Lord. If they call themselves Christians, it is in name only. And they do so for their own ends and to fulfil their own passions and desires.
- But in these words we see the instruction of the Lord telling us to change our focus. We are to stop focusing inwardly on ourselves, and instead look outside of ourselves. When we focus on Christ correctly, we will look to the things that lead to growth in love. We will consider the needs, feelings, and requirements of others, as we are instructed in the New Testament.
- It is evident also from these words that we cannot do this alone. When it says we do not live or die to ourselves, we should note that if we are not living or dying to ourselves, then we are doing so to others. Primarily, we are living and dying to and with Christ. He is our focus and the one we look to all of the time in our daily walk. It is His path we follow and our desire is to please the Lord in every way as we change our focus from ourselves and the things of this world to Christ.
- Scripture: Romans 14:8
- Here is the core of this message. Whether we live or die, we belong to Christ. If we live, then we have opportunity to learn His words, follow His ways, and grow in His teachings. And if we die, we die to Him.
- In the end, it’s not about us. It has never been about us. We are called to give our life to Him and to serve Him in everything we do. When we focus on Jesus, we follow His ways in everything we do. While we live in this world we have to work, deal with people, buy and sell, and so on as part of this earthly life. But in all of those things, we need to keep the will of God and the ways of Christ foremost in our thinking.
- If we buy or sell to make a living, we do it fairly. If we deal with people and have relationships with people, we exercise the love of God towards them. In all of our relationships, we consider the needs and priorities of others, because this is the way of the Lord. It is how we focus on Jesus. We do everything with Him in mind so that when we live, we live to the Lord, and when we die, we die to Him also. Through this focus on Jesus we receive His gift of eternal life.
- Scripture: Romans 14:9
- Christ is Lord of both the living and the dead. He is Lord of all, because to Him, there are no dead.
- Here on earth we see people die, but that is not the ultimate death. What we see is merely the separation of the spirit of a person from the flesh. The spirit goes to either Paradise or to Hades when a person dies, but their personality, which is a spiritual thing, continues to live. The flesh, however, dies and is buried, but the spirit goes on until the final judgement when everyone will be raised from the dead and judged by God. Some will be judged to go into life, while others will be judged to truly die in the destruction of the spirit.
- Our hope and desire is that through a focus on Jesus, we will be judged worthy of entering life with Him. And whether we live or die in this life, if we focus on Him then we have the opportunity to find salvation and life eternal as we live and grow in the faith.
Prayer Points
- Pray and ask the Father to help you with this focus in all situations and relationships.
- Ask Him to show you the right path, not a self-centred path, but a Christ-centred path that leads to life, so that whether you live or die, you too will belong to Christ.