The Focal Point

 

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matthew 6:31-34 ESV).

 

Leonardo da Vinci and other artists in the Italian Renaissance mastered the use of the focal point and the vanishing point, which give perspective to a painting. They learned that objects near you appear larger, while objects in the distance seem smaller. So, if you want to draw a house that looks natural, draw lines from the peak of the roof and the base of the foundation that extend all the way to the vanishing point on the horizon. You will begin to see the outline of the house, and then you can work from there. Similarly, the focal point in a picture is the point to which all elements in the picture draw your eye. It is another means of creating perspective. Often I find we are missing the proper perspective, or focal point, in our lives. We are either too narrow or too broad in our vision.

 

Christ is the focal point that gives perspective to our lives. Without a focal point, certain parts of life may loom too large, while other parts are not large enough. Everything is out of proportion; somehow it just doesn’t come together into a life that makes sense.

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (cf. Colossians 1:17). If our lives are centered in Christ, we will have the right reference point to guide all our pathways, to help us make the many decisions necessary for a well-balanced life.

 

This is the message Jesus gives the multitudes in the famous Sermon on the Mount which our reading today comes from. Here Jesus teaches us to “seek first” the kingdom of God “and his righteousness,” and all the things we need will be given to us (v. 33). Jesus is not setting in motion a principle of quid pro quo where we give something to get something. There is no concept in the Scripture that teaches God to be a “vending machine.” Here the concept is the same as Paul teaches with an agricultural example, “The Law of the Harvest” (Galatians 6:7). It is a matter of truth that God has established a sequence that when we plant something, it is the fruit of that something that we later are able to harvest. So, naturally, the proper perspective then becomes that our seeking the kingdom of God will always result in our needs being met. We find what we look for. It is a promise of God that is always honored. What’s your perspective?