Cast Your Lot with the Lord and be not deterred. (Determination)
Different people have different levels of determination. Concentration for one is deep and intense; for another it is fleeting and difficult. Watch the eyes of a professional golfer, they “Lock-in” and very little of what is going on around them enters their train of thought. “Lock-in”, that’s a great adjective for those who have great concentration. Is being able to “Lock-in” an innate trait or is it something that is learned? To some extent I am convinced it’s a bit of both.
The individual who has Attention Deficit Disorder can have an impossible time concentrating on the simplest thing. According to the Mayo Clinic:
(ADHD) is a chronic condition that affects millions of children and often persists into
adulthood. ADHD includes a combination of problems, such as difficulty sustaining
attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior.
ADHD and other conditions although not necessarily attributable to a physical malady are understood to be a conditions inherent in an individual and not learned or caused by the residential environment.
Try reading the book of Leviticus or First Chronicles sometime to test your concentration skills. One of the reasons I find cutting the lawn so therapeutic is for this very reason, I can cut the grass and feel as if I’m accomplishing something and my mind can be a thousand miles away.
"Feel like I’m accomplishing something", there’s a lot said with that statement. Environmental pressures contribute to a lack of concentration. Today we must be doing or our time is wasted. We get caught up in doing and don’t spend enough time letting. Our focus is thrown into the worries of this world until we are consumed. Jesus said in Matthew 6:34, Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Martha in Luke Chapter 10 is a great example.
From a Christian perspective, “casting our lot” means relying and in many cases waiting on the Lord. It means concentrating on the Spiritual and spending less time doing or obsessing about the physical. We must remember that we are only passing through, this is not our home (Hebrews 13:14, 2 Corinthians 5:1). The song, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus” has a great line in it. The line 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”. I think that is what Paul was talking about when he said to live is Christ, to die is gain Philippians 1:21.
