The Main Thing

Years ago at a conference, the main speaker said something I have never forgotten: “Keep the main thing, the main thing.” And by that, he meant, “Keep Jesus, and His sacrifice your focus--always!”

As we enter Lent this year, I’m sad to think about the many times I haven’t kept Jesus as the main thing. Too often the next problem, the next car repair, the next headline has replaced Him as the main thing. That is the beauty of Lent; it's a time to stop and refocus. It's a time to take my eyes off myself and the overwhelming cares of this world and look at Jesus. In Him, all of these problems are put into proper perspective. The cares seem a little smaller, the burdens a little lighter. They aren't gone, of course, but if I can remember the One who says to cast my cares on Him because He cares for me, then they grow less demandingly urgent. I must leave those things in Jesus’ care because He promises to supply all of my needs according to His glorious riches. Then, turning to Jesus, I must refocus on Him and His love and sacrifice.

As the old hymn says:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

look full in His wonderful face,

and the things of Earth will grow strangely dim,

in the light of His glory and grace.*

That is the joy of Lent; it gives us time to turn our eyes upon Jesus and keep Him the "main thing" in our lives.

(* "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" by Helen Howarth Lemmel).