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Today, we’re talking about staying focused. We’re learning how important it is to stay focused on Jesus. I don’t mean staring at an image of Jesus without blinking. It’s more than that. It’s about making sure God and Jesus are the main focus of your day. Every day. It’s waking up in the morning and asking God to lead you through the day. It’s making decisions by listening to God’s Spirit inside you. It’s reading your Bible and learning more about who Jesus is and what God wants for your life and staying focused on those things. 

And the more you practice, the better you get at staying focused on Jesus. The first few times you try, life might get in the way. You’re busy. You get distracted. Math tests. Swim practice. Friend drama. Or even BIG life problems. Before you know it, Jesus isn’t your main focus. It’s not as easy as it sounds. 

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6, NIV). 

That verse tells us that no matter how hard it is to focus on Jesus right now . . . YOU WILL GET IT. I promise. And the beautiful thing about it is: the longer you focus on Jesus, the more confident in Jesus you become. And the easier it will be to press play on His plans for your life! Because when you’re focused on Him, you’ll see Him do amazing things all around you. 

It’s not all that different from the disciples (Jesus’s best friends on planet Earth). The longer they followed Jesus around and saw all the miraculous stuff He was doing, the greater their confidence in Him grew! 

But even they didn’t get it perfectly all the time. They paused. They doubted. They focused on other things. Just like you and me, they had to learn over and over and over how to stay focused on Jesus. We’re going to see that we’re a lot more like Jesus’s disciples than we are like Jesus. And that’s okay. We aren’t supposed to be confident because WE are perfect. We’re supposed to be confident because we follow and are loved by a GOD who is perfect. 

As we end today, I want you to read this Scripture kind of like a prayer: 

. . . Let us keep on running the race marked out for us. Let us keep looking to Jesus. He is the one who started this journey of faith. And he is the one who completes the journey of faith (Hebrews 12:1–2) . . . 

So, pray it something like this . . . 

Dear Jesus, please help me to keep on running the race You marked for me. Help me look to You always, Jesus. Thank You for being the One who started it all. Thank You for being such a good leader. I love You, Jesus. And I pray these things in Your name. Amen!