Running in Circles, or Not

We were discussing an idea at the BBQ after church this week. Here it is, should we focus on heaven, instead of focusing on earth.

Daniel, one of our pastors had raised the question during the sermon, the first sermon in the new series called, Eternity / Where am I Headed.  I had written this on the handout, ”focus on things that last vs. trying to live another day”. And I realized that trying to live another day has been my focus, for obvious reasons. So, I posed the question with the two guys that I was sitting with, Perry, the senior pastor, and Lars, my cousin-in-law. And we discussed it. 

I realize if you don’t believe in heaven this post doesn’t make much sense, but for me, man, it is something to think about because I believe in heaven. I believe that it is where I’m headed. And I am wondering if my focus is wrong. So regardless if you believe in heaven, if you welcome to tag along for a thousand words.

The biblical rationale is pretty clear. 

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Mat 6:19-21 

And then this passage, 2 Corinthians 4.16-18.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal. 

We are told to lay up our treasures in heaven, and we are told to fix our eyes on the unseen. It is clear that it is talking about focus. Focusing on the unseen reality that will last. That was what the sermon was about.

Under what I had written on the handout, I had also written this, “My life on earth will not last.” My life on earth is only temporary. In the dichotomy that is given here, my life here on earth, resides on the temporary side. What is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 

As we were discussing this, Lars mentioned the analogy of driving. You need to focus on the destination, and you also need to focus on the road. If all you do is focus on the road, you will eventually end up driving in circles. If all you do is focus on the destination, you will eventually cause a wreck. 

We need to focus on our life, or we will cause a wreck. How much of the bible is about how we are to live on the seen world that is temporary. A lot of it. Just like we have stop signs and speed limits, we also have rules that govern our lives. We know what happens if we ignore stop signs, well guess what, the same thing happens in our lives, eventually there is a crash.  That is why we need to focus on our lives as well.

We also need to focus on the destination, where I am headed, if not we will be running in circles. How much of the bible is about the destination, actually all of it. Redemption it what the bible is about. Starting with Genesis and ending with Revelation is the story of redemption. The redeemed world (heaven) is our destination. If we aren’t focusing on the destination we are running in circles.  I like that analogy.

Here is something I have been thinking about for a while, and it fits in well with this post. Complaining about the journey instead of focusing on the destination.

The destination for the people of God in the Old Testament was the promised land. And when they were on the way, they decided to complain about the journey. 

Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron.  They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD!  Why did you bring the LORD’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here?  Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”   Numbers 20.2-5

While they were complaining about the journey they missed out on the destination, they missed out on the promise. Instead of focusing on the destination, they ended up wandered in the wilderness, literally walking in circles, until they all died and a new generation replaced them.

I have not complained much about what happened to me, yay for me. But my focus has been there. And I don’t want to keep focusing on the journey. 

There is a weird thing that is happening in my life. If I am not careful, I am walking in circles. I don’t think it means anything significant, but who knows? It is something to think about. 

I noticed it a couple months ago. If I am not actually thinking about walking, which is basically all the time, I end up at the left edge of the sidewalk. I walk toward the left, counterclockwise. Which is not a problem, just a nuisance. And that is because there are lanes for me, sidewalks, aisles, paths, to guide me. Without that, I would need to pay attention to my walking.

If I was walking along in a field of grass, thinking about my life instead of thinking about my destination I would eventually, without noticing, end up walking in circles. The same is true for walking in the wilderness, without a point of reference, it is easy to miss the way. The way to life. 

Psalms 119.105 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

And Mattew 7.13-14 we are told about a narrow road.

“Enter through the narrow gate.  For wide it the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and may enter through it. But small it the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  God has given us a path; he has given us a road that leads to life.

So, I am focusing on the destination, and I am focusing on the road, using the paths that God had given me. The journey is what it is, and it is temporary.  The destination is beautiful and eternal. I do not want to miss it by focusing on the wrong things. I do not want to be running in circles.