Chestnut Level Presbyterian Church

Devotional Friday, April 10 from Pastor John Hartman.

“Focused on Jesus Christ”

Have you noticed that great people have the ability to focus intensely on a single objective or pursuit? Most of us live complex lives, zigzagging this way and that way, like the over-energetic cowboy who jumped on his horse and rode off in all directions. Great people tend to live lives of breathtaking simplicity. They draw a bead on the one thing in life that matters most to them and say, “This one thing I do.” Michelangelo would work so ferociously on his projects that he would sometimes go for weeks without changing his clothes. Handel practiced such long hours that he would literally wear out the keys of his harpsichord, rounding them down into the shape of hollowed out spoons. And so, the Paul wrote in Philippians, “This one thing I do, forgetting all other things.”

When Albert Einstein lived in Princeton, New Jersey in the 1960’s, he would often walk the streets in Princeton because he didn’t drive. He used to get so caught up in working out complex mathematical equations in his brilliant mind, he would sometimes forget how to get back home. He would have to call his wife to come pick him up. The only problem was Albert Einstein couldn’t remember his own phone number. People said they would see Albert Einstein standing at a phone booth in downtown Princeton flipping through the telephone book looking for his phone number so that he could call his wife and have her come pick him up, because he didn’t know how to get home. The Apostle Paul said that is how we are to be as Christians, -- so focused on Jesus Christ, that we are forgetful of other things.

Many of the people around Jesus were notoriously forgetful. There was that Samaritan woman who came to a well to draw water, and after her encounter with Jesus Christ, she ran off and forgot her water pot. One day 5,000 people became so enthralled with the words of Jesus that they forgot they were hungry, until Jesus fed them. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and became so engrossed that she forgot to help her sister in the kitchen. May you possess the “the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ.” And may you have that same kind of focus and attention to the one who never, ever forgets about us.

This Sunday, April 12, as I am away in North Carolina to officiate a wedding, and also in South Carolina to visit with family, Rev. Charlie Gross, a longtime friend of the church, will be back to preach and lead worship again with us. Please join us in the sanctuary at either 8:00 am or 10:30 am. We will also broadcast the 10:30 am service on Zoom, Facebook Live, and YouTube.

Pastor John

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