Focusing the heart outward
“Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” - JOHN 4:35
“Why would a corporation pay this man $100,000 a year to look out the window?” read an ad in a magazine, depicting a man peering out his office window. The implication was that every organization needs people who look beyond the narrow interests of an institution to the needs of the world with whom it wants to do business.
The heart gets inwardly turned easily. Judas betrayed Jesus because the devil was able to manipulate Judas’ personal agenda, which was the focus of his heart. Earlier, some of the other disciples’ hearts had gotten self-focused, and they quibbled over their positions beside Jesus’ throne in Heaven.
Jesus grabs these self-absorbed hearts, and stands them at the “window” of the world. The fields are to be the focus. They are heavy with hurting people, seeking people and confused people. The only antidote for the inwardly-turned, self-absorbed, self-destructive heart is to focus outward. Allow Jesus to put you at the “window” and show you the world.
TODAY’S FOCUS
Is the primary measure of your relationship to Jesus what He can do for you? Do you rate a church strictly on how it provides ministry for you? Repent of the sin of self-focus, and ask the Lord to fill your heart with vision for the needy world.