Goals. Throughout our lives, we are constantly setting, adjusting, and refocusing our goals. The matter at hand is the focus of trajectory. We are always in a battle to keep our attention fixed on our goals in order to achieve them. When we are distracted from that singular intent, we sway and struggle until our gaze is again focused and realigned. Our lives as Christians goes through this same labor of purposed refocusing on the object of our faith who is Christ.
An example that describes this is the story of Jesus walking on water (Matt. 14:22-33). In it, we have Jesus walking on the wave beaten water towards the disciples' boat. The disciples, gripped in fear, do not know who it could be walking atop the wake when Jesus calls out for them not to be afraid for it is He. Excited, Peter cries out for proof that it truly is Jesus by asking to be called out onto the water; Jesus aquiesces. Peter fixes his gaze on Christ and, for a time, walks on the water. However, Peter's focus soon wavers due to the distraction of reality and he sinks. Jesus then comes to Peter's aid and admonishes him: "O you of little faith. Why did you doubt?"
The particulars of this story paint a masterful picture of the necessary object of our faith's focus as well the required intensity. Peter was scared just like the other disciples but he had the courage to step out of the boat. The only reason that Peter briefly walked upon the water was because his focus was singular and specific. His focus was on Jesus alone.
The focus is not the point, it is the object of that focus which kept Peter dry. Peter's focus waned away from Christ and was refocused on the waves, the water, and the realization that he was walking on water. In this way, the peripheries of what God had blessed Peter to do had in fact distracted Peter from what God had blessed him to do. He sank.
Like Peter, it is not the intensity or the degree of our passion or our focus that saves us; it is the object of our faith. When Christ is the singular object of our faith and our focus, we will walk on water. When our focus wanes from that point, we will sink. This is the reason for daily, if not in every moment, assessing and realigning our cynosure onto the fixed focal point of Christ.
Amos talks about God's perfect plumb line that aligns all things in righteousness and holiness (Amo. 7:7-9). Christ is that eternal plumb line incarnate to keep us true. Aligning to that perfect plumb line takes a fixed gaze so that we can be aware of when we are missing the point. In musical study, students use a metronome to keep time. The metronome offers a consistent, unchanging tempo that ensures proper timing, etc. It is the metronome that exposes the practicing student's tempo flaws but it is also the metronome that challenges and prompts the musician to grow. Christ and His Word act like a metronome, exposing the flaws but propelling us to growth. We need to keep it in front of us at all times.
If our gaze is not fixed on Jesus, we will be totally unaware of how soaked we are as we wade through the waters of this life. Only when we stay true to our Savior can we acknowledge our sin in light of His cleansing. Also, the singular gaze ensures that we will press forward towards Him in reverence and love. Paul says that we should run the race, looking to Christ as the founder and perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:1-2). It is the object that saves, but we need to be determined to fix our eyes on that object, who is Christ.
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