FOCUS                                              

Distractions happen.

• Ask a carpenter using a table saw who now has one less finger
• Ask the driver who was texting on his cell and hit a pedestrian 
• Ask a parent who turned their back on their 2 year old for 1 sec

Distractions are all around us.  Life is fool of them.  Indeed, you will probably bee distracted several times while wreading this article.  (misspellings?) I got distracted multiple times while just writing this one paragraph!

The Hebrew congregation was definitely distracted.  Many had lost their focus. Some were looking back at judaism and the way things used to be before their New Testament conversion.  Some were focusing on their troubles and trials, while others were just worn out and considering quitting christianity all together. 

• Ahh, remember when we celebrated the feast days, sang on the way to the temple, observed the morning and evening sacrifices, recognized the old law as the ultimate authority?
• Or....Is being persecuted for becoming a christian worth it?
• Or....I need a rest from all this; I’m just so tired and weary....

FOCUS PEOPLE!  The Hebrew writer begins and ends with Jesus. His letter centers on the Christ, His promised redemptive accomplishment, the better covenant -- while at the same time filling his book with exhortation after exhortation.  His crescendo exhortation on keeping a Jesus focus resounds in Hebrews 12... 

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith...God is good.  Mr. Steve