Extraordinary

Where to Put Your Focus.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

I’ve always been fascinated by the word “extraordinary.” You can say it with surprise, delight, or awe. But what really surprised me was how if you simply change where you put the emphasis when you say the word, it can completely change its meaning. Instead of saying extraordinary as you normally would, try saying it extra…ordinary. Now instead of it meaning outstanding, you have changed it to mean extremely ordinary or average. How often do we put our focus in the wrong places in our lives?

“Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.”
Colossians 3:2 New Living Translation

In a world where everything is easily at our fingertips, it’s very easy to get caught up in the things of this world, such as the massive amounts of media options, politics, social issues and on and on. But how do we change our focus when all of this world is so in our face? After all, Paul tells us that we are to think about the things of heaven and not of this world, but that is so much easier said than done.

I like starting my mornings with a cup of coffee and reading the Bible. It starts my day with the right focus. Unfortunately, when I leave my house to go about my day the world is in my face all over again, drawing my focus to everything but Christ and heaven.

I also have a tendency to listen to too much talk radio, especially during these heightened political times. I know it’s not good for me, but I keep going there and it once again draws my focus away from Christ. So now, I make myself stick to a Christian music station, to draw me back to Christ.

boys helped pull together climbingWe are called to live a life that is not extra ordinary, or even ordinary, but to live an extraordinary life.

“Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit.”
Colossians 1:10 New Living Translation.

The ONLY way we can live an extraordinary life is to live for God, and the only way we can live for God is to constantly keep turning our focus to Christ.

Copyright: Larissa Odell