A Godward Focus

In several of our passages today we see people living with a Godward focus looking at their lives only in light of what they know of God and His promises.
The first is Jacob. Now at the end of his days, sitting before his beloved son, Joseph, he reveals what has been central to his life. He tells Joseph that God Almighty had appeared to him and promised to make him fruitful, to give him an offspring that would inherit the promised land. Now in his closing hours, Jacob passes on this vision to his son and grandsons. He blesses the grandsons, asking God to make them into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Then he turns to his son and directs his attention to God, confidently stating his expectation that God would be with him and would bring him into the land. What a way to bless our children - to point them to God and His magnificent promises. Jacob truly had a Godward focus.
We see Mary next. She has been highly favored of the Lord, to be able to bear the Son of God. After receiving kind words from her relative Elizabeth, Mary breaks out in a song of her own. In this song she reveals how she interprets all that is happening to herself. She says in verse 54-55 that God "has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever." Mary looks at her blessed circumstance and sees it in light of God's promises to His people. Her speech reveals that she lives in light of God's revealed will. That is central to who she is.
Zechariah has a similar story. He is blessed to have a very special son who will be called, John the Baptist. His prophecy reveals that he, too, interpreted his blessed circumstance in light of the promises revealed to his fathers. In verses 72f he speaks of "the mercy promised to the fathers" and the "oath that God swore to...Abraham". Then he blesses his son just born, blessing him in light of what God has revealed to him about his kind intentions for this world. Again, we have here a tremendous example of the way a godly parent, who has a Godward focus, blesses their child.
Now if anyone has a reason to have a Godward focus it is the Christian of this age. In 1 Corinthians 2 Paul says two amazing things about believers. He says in verse 12 that "we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God." Later in verse 16 he says that "we have the mind of Christ". It is incredible to think that the Spirit, who Paul says knows the mind of God, lives within us. That being true we above all people who have ever lived should live with a Godward focus. We have His mind; we know the things He has freely given to us. We have His Spirit giving us a wisdom that does not come from this world.
Today I want to ask us all: Do we have a Godward focus? Do we interpret all of life's events in light of what we know of God, His promises and His purposes? And are we passing on this Godward focus to our children (if we are so blessed with them)? As you walk through this day, remember that you have the mind of Christ. Let that mind inform all that you do; let it interpret all that comes to you this day, whether it be bad or good. Let others around you see that your life starts and ends with God.