Obsessions

Life is full of choices, isn’t it?  And depending on our focus, we Christians can make wise choices or destructive choices.  Maybe we ought to start a recap of what we focus on…by which “direction” our chooser is taking us!

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.--Philippians 4:8

Imagine that the place you are presently sitting as you read this article represents your whole life. Everything in the room holds some aspect of your past, present, and future. Now pick up the most insignificant object that you see, such as a pencil, a coin, or a saltshaker, and slowly move it toward your eye. Keep moving it until this insignificant object blocks out half of your world. Something that is really of no great consequence to the rest of us has become of paramount importance to you. In fact, you will have great difficulty living the rest of the day with half of your vision blocked. This is exactly what the enemy does to believers. He picks something from our past, present, or future and has us obsessing on it until we believe that there is nothing we can do in life until this one thing is resolved. Some obsess so long that they eventually begin to listen to the voice of the enemy telling them that this one thing is so consuming that the only option is suicide! Obsession is wrong in two fundamental ways. First, Matthew 5:36: "You cannot make one hair white or black.” That is, you cannot control the past, present, or future. Second, regret over the past is for unbelievers. It vexes me greatly when I see believers wallow over some stupid mistake in the past. We have a God, He takes our sins, and the proof that He cleanses us from them is the very fact that we are distressed when we think about the past. Therefore, He is to be our daily focus.

Imagine that your mind is divided in half. One half of your mental energy goes to your mate, job, church, family, and hobby; the other half of your thought-life goes to your obsession. If you give up your obsession, what will you do with the vacuum? Philippians gives the secret: focus on Him! One thing I found that makes life enjoyable is to give myself to something bigger than myself each day. So while an obsession is bigger than the person who gives himself to it, God is indescribably bigger than the obsession. Satan wanted Jesus to worship him; the word used for worship is indicative of “giving attention to.” Jesus refused to give His attention to anything other than God. We will not worship an obsession.

- Mike Wells