MAY 20, 2015
Guard Your
Focus
Looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. —Hebrews 12:2
Read:
1
Corinthians 3:1-9
“That’s my disciple,”
I once heard a woman say about someone she was helping. As followers of Christ
we are all tasked with making disciples—sharing the good news of Christ with
people and helping them grow spiritually. But it can be easy to focus on
ourselves instead of Jesus.
The apostle Paul was
concerned that the Corinthian church was losing its focus on Christ. The two
best-known preachers in those days were Paul and Apollos. The church was
divided: “I follow Paul.” “Well, I follow Apollos!” They had begun focusing on
the wrong person, following the teachers rather than the Savior. But Paul
corrected them. We are “God’s fellow workers.” It doesn’t matter who plants and
who waters, for only God can give the growth. Christians are “God’s field,
God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:6-9). The Corinthian believers didn’t belong to Paul
nor to Apollos.
Jesus tells us to go
and make disciples and to teach them about Him (Matt. 28:20). And the author of
the book of Hebrews reminds us to focus on the Author and Finisher of our faith
(12:2). Christ will be honored when we focus on Him; He is superior to any
human being and He will meet our needs.
Father, I confess that
it is easy to shift my focus from You to less important things. Thank You for
putting people in my life that help point me to You. Help me point others to
You in a way that makes You more and me less.
Put Jesus first.
INSIGHT:
Apollos first appears on the pages of the New Testament in the book of Acts,
where it says he was “born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the
scriptures” (18:24). Though he spoke of Jesus boldly in the synagogue, his
understanding of the scriptures was incomplete, so he received training from
Aquila and Priscilla (v. 26). Apollos is discussed in today’s text as someone
who had developed a strong following among believers in Christ (1 Cor. 3:4). He
is mentioned favorably by Paul in Titus 3:13 when he urged Titus to help
Apollos on his journey.
Source: Our Daily Bread 2012
