Losing It?

 "Slacker Andy" was the real hit of Sunday night's Super Bowl Halftime.

In just 30 seconds, Andy Lewis jumped and flipped around on a tightrope without ANY safeguards while Madonna and Company became HIS backup stage performers.  111.3 million viewers watched in amazement as Slacker Andy did his toga bouncing with fearless precision.  Andy became an overnight sensation.  His YouTube video view count went viral and offers from huckamucks poured in like Niagara Falls on steroids.
"I started slacklining in 2004, it was my favorite hobby in 2005, my lifestyle in 2006, and since then has pretty much absorbed me entirely." 
Talk about a laser type focus!  Andy is way committed and fully invested in his slacklining.  It's no wonder that the man is beyond astonishing.  
Whenever you say "Yes" to your focus, you are also saying "No" to competing distractions.  When it comes to making money, courtship, parenting or gator catching, intentional personal discipline to stay the course corrals effort and energy alike for a single life pursuit.  We applaud those whose 30 seconds (or 8 seconds if you ride bulls), elevates the once obscured to the globally acclaimed.  We award and gawk over those who have lived out our secret dreams.  
In the Bible, "self-control" is a character quality of those who have a "soul" desire.  So many things are important.  Many others are just plain fun.  To the spiritually self-controlled, the laser focus of life is to cultivate and know more deeply the heart of God, and then to get in on His agenda.  To be distracted or to go off road is simply not an option.  That makes what you do the servant of Whose you are.  I have gone spiritually off road more than a few times, permitting my faith and loyalty in Christ to be compromised by discouragement, offence, or even just plain laziness.  
"The end of all things is near.  Therefore, be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray."  (1Peter 4:7).   "Make every effort to add...self-control...possessing this quality in increasing measure." (2 Peter 1:6-8).  We can be assured that we are making sustained, viable spiritual progress we prioritize our relationship with the Father and trust Him for every concern and need as a result.  As I read the Bible, I am even more amazed with those whose lives are marked by an uncompromising loyalty to Jesus.  
I admire folk whose commitment to a single focus point makes them both excellent and expert in their passion.  I admire and respect those whose single-minded pursuit of cultivating a life pleasing to God is primary and without question.  I desire to emulate the ladder while congratulating the former.  Be determined to make your spiritual life your primary life focus.  Use the 40 Day Personal Growth Plan located at www.camdenbc.com as a guide for your developing spiritual passion.  
Andy is my kind of guy.  Love his slacklining passion and excellence!  That Brit Chick, M.I.A. with her obscene gesture during that very same Halftime performance...well, she lost all control.  Years from now, Andy will still be celebrated, while M.I.A. will be, well...M.I.A.