I got my first lessons in photography from my dad. My pictures were blurred. They looked like a smear of peanut butter on bread. “Hold the camera still, son,” he told me. I practiced squeezing the shutter instead of stabbing at it. My pictures improved dramatically. Still, some things were blurry. “Set your focus on the main subject,” he said. That helped a lot.

I thought the picture with a large tree growing from my brother’s head was really funny. My brother’s sour look said that he didn’t agree. “Check the background,” Dad told me, “So it doesn’t become a distraction.”

I’ve learned many lessons since, but these were the beginning. Taking good pictures takes practice and experience. I keep trying.

“Stand firm,” the apostle says. Don’t blur your life. Events of all kinds come into our lives. Our emotions fluctuate. We can’t control these things, but we can control how we stand. “Let nothing move you.”

“Give yourself fully to the work of the Lord.” Let God be the focal point of your life. Life has many important parts, all need attention, but don’t lose focus on the most important part.

“You know your labor for the Lord is not in vain.” There is a lot of “stuff” happening in the background. Think carefully about how things fit with the primary focus of your life.

Stand firm. Fix your focus. Don’t let minor elements become distractions. Simple lessons that take a lot of practice We make mistakes along the way. But with practice we improve.

Lord, be patient with me. I want you to be the clear center of my life. There’s a lot that comes my way. It’s hard sometimes to keep it all in focus. Give me clear sight and a steady hand to follow you.

Throughout This Day: Trust God to give you the ability and desire to keep your heart fixed on him.



Tags: A God-Focused Life Daily Devotional 1 Corinthians 15
Photo Credit: Faye Cornish on Unsplash