Focus

"Then Joshua the son of Nun sent two men as spies secretly from Shittim, saying, 'Go, view the land, especially Jericho.' So they went and came into the house of a harlot whose name was Rahab, and lodged there." -Joshua 2.1

Joshua is preparing to move forward, but before he does he sends a team out for reconnaissance. He tells them to view the land. It's been forty years since he was there as a spy, and a lot can happen in four decades. He sends two men to gather some information, and their primary focus in Jericho. Joshua wants to know what lies ahead, and so he gathers information that he needs.

Look at his focus here. The people have heard about the goodness of the land for decades, possibly centuries as the story of promise was passed down. But certainly for the forty years of wandering they were reminded of the goodness of the land that Joshua and Caleb had brought back. I imagine they were anxious to move forward and finally see it with their own eyes. But Joshua is a soldier, and while I'm sure he was excited to return to the land, his focus is on taking possession of it, and that began at Jericho. Joshua tells the spies to focus their attention on this first city that they will encounter.

The focus of a man cannot overlook the battles that must be fought, it is a deadly mistake. When I was a sophomore in high school I was wrestling at the conference tournament. Tournaments are double elimination, you lose two matches and you're out. My bracket wasn't full and so because of my record I was automatically in the semi finals. The match was closer than it should have been and it came down to the final seconds, where I ended up losing by one point.

At that point you move into the losers bracket and go for third place. I had watched the match the guy I was wrestling had lost, and he was beaten pretty badly by a guy I had easily beaten earlier in the season. In my mind I would win this match, and then beat the next guy to win third place. It was in the bag and so I wasn't focused on the next match. Long story short, I didn't win and was the only guy on my team not to place.

That's what happens when you don't focus on the battle ahead. You aren't prepared, you can't perform, and you ended losing to someone you should have easily beaten. Fortunately Joshua didn't make that mistake.

Men, where is your focus? Are you overlooking the battle for the prize that goes to the victor? If we lose focus we lose the fight. If we focus on the prize we can't focus on the fight.

Let us focus on the battle, not on what happens afterward. May we not be men who lose fights we should have easily won because we're too concerned with enjoying the prize. Let us focus.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor