It's all about FOCUS...

I've been reading Psalm 119 over these past couple of mornings. If you're familiar with the scriptures, you'll know that it is the longest psalm in the Bible and that it particularly highlights the value of  understanding, loving and obeying the Word of God - the instructions that our Creator has given for our lives to turn out well.

In the section I was meditating on this morning, the word "turn" stood out to me and I was struck by how the psalmist understood the importance of having the right focus in life. In vs 36 - 37 and then in vs 59 - 60, we read:

• Turn my heart...
• Turn my eyes...
• Turn my steps...

To be faithful in following God, our heart (our motivation) needs to be turned towards God's instructions and not towards selfish gain.

Secondly, our eyes need to be turned away from worthless things that could be a distraction to us.

And then we need to take a third and very practical turn: we need to turn our steps without delay to putting God's instructions into practice in our own lives.

The writer of the psalm prays for God's help to turn his heart to the Word and to turn his eyes away from distractions... but then he takes personal responsibility for the needed action step, saying, "I have turned my steps to your commands. I will hasten and not delay to obey your instructions."

Turn my heart, turn my eyes, turn my steps... This is the sort of focus involved in seeking God wholeheartedly and experiencing His help to live life well.