We live in a culture committed to having everything; however, the end result is that we really possess nothing–at least nothing of real substance. Elton Trublood said it this way: “He who is committed to many things is committed to nothing.” We can’t do it all, yet we live as if we think we can. Every choice we make to do something…carries with it the price of NOT being able to do something else. We can’t do it all!
To focus on an object with a camera lens is to leave the vast field of view out of focus to concentrate on a particular subject. We can’t focus on everything at once with a camera, and this is equally true in life itself. As a culture, trying to do it all has over-burdened our calendars and budgets to the extent that we are energy-less, penny-less, and passion-less. Trying to do it all has its set of casualties, and our culture is full of them.
Since we all have but one life to live, may I suggest afresh that we focus our lives around that which matters eternally, rather than being caught up in the rat race of trying to do it all. Focusing our lives on a few significant things is an inward spiritual discipline that produces freedom rather than burden. Thus, the critical question of life is NOT: “how does this make me look or feel?” rather, we should ask: “what does God think about it?”
Focusing our lives produces freedom as we serve one master–the Lord Jesus, rather than the multitude of voices from the culture we live in, and as we learn to say “no” to the culture and “yes” to the Lord we find life and freedom–“…for our ambition, whether at home or absent, is to be pleasing to Him,” ( II Cor. 5:9). Yes, focusing our lives to do the important things does have a price, yet the fruit we gain is well worth the sacrifices we make!