Focus

^{Phillipians 4:4-8
4} Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

⁵ Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 

⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Meditate on These Things

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 

How many times have I read these scriptures? How many times have I repeated these words? They’re some of my favorites. Probably not just mine. They are quoted incredibly often, but today I realized that I focus so much on verses 4-7, and oftentimes, forget about what verse 8 is really saying.

On what am I meditating? On what am I dwelling, focusing, thinking? We are a culture inundated with bad news. It’s on the news. It’s on daytime talk shows. We love night time crime shows. And we focus on this stuff. We dwell on it. It becomes so integrated into our thinking that we don’t even know it’s there.

But today, I realized that I need to stop. I need to turn off the news. I need to change what I’m watching. I’m not saying be uninformed. I’m not saying be ignorant. But we should not be feeding on an endless cycle of bad news and horrific crimes.

So today I ask myself on what am I meditating?

Is it true?

Is it noble?

Is it just?

Is it pure?

Is it lovely?

Is it of good report?

Is it of virtue and praiseworthy?

Is it Christ?

If it’s not then it’s time to shift my focus.