Albert Einstein was once asked by a student, “Dr. Einstein, how many feet are there in a mile?” To the utter astonishment of the student, Einstein replied, “I don’t know.” The student was sure the great professor was joking. Surely Einstein would know a simple fact that every schoolchild is required to memorize. But Einstein wasn’t joking. When the student pressed for an explanation of this gap in Einstein’s knowledge, he declared, “I make it a rule not to clutter my mind with simple information that I can find in a book in five minutes.”
When I read that story, I discovered a principle that I think could help address a daily struggle for me. It was a glimpse into the mind of one of history's greatest innovators, perhaps an important secret of his success revealed. Could it be that one of the keys to Eienstein's success was a little word called focus?
I've always prided myself on being a great multi-tasker. I enjoy working, and my life seems abnormal if I don't have a number of projects I'm working on, several ideas that I'm processing, and lots mundane tasks that I'm chipping away at, all going on at the same time. I realize that I'm not alone in this.... almost everyone I talk to says something about how "busy" they are or have been.
When I was younger, and Shondi and I were both working and going to school, I can remember dreaming about what my life would be like when I finished school and got a "real job", so my life wouldn't be so busy.
When we moved back from Dallas and took our first part-time ministry position, along with full time jobs, and the arrival of our first child, I realized that the "not so busy life" I had dreamt about was eluding me in every way.
Life moved on and the pace got faster and faster until finally we arrived.... a full time ministry position that provided for my wife and four children.... I was finally going to be less busy!
You might be able to guess that the whole "less busy" thing didn't work out like I planned. In fact, it seemed that at every stage I thought I'd be less busy, the demands on my time grew greater & greater.
I could go on with this, but I'm really busy today so I'll have to wrap it up:) I have determined that the "less busy" life I've been pursuing is probably not a reality this side of heaven. I've also learned that learning to balance my busy life is a part of my spiritual discipline and growth.
If Eienstein realized that cluttering his mind with trivial "stuff" was detrimental to his ultimate purpose, what does that say to us about the danger of cluttering our lives by being so "busy" that we neglect our primary purpose of being Jesus to a lost and dying world?
Focus.... simple to say, but hard to do. Since I started this blog, I made it a point to count how many times I've been distracted.... 26 times! That's an average of one distraction every other minute since I started.
The same thing happens in our walk with Jesus... we lose our focus. We are so easily distracted from the "main thing" by the mundane things that somehow creep up our priority list every day.
I recognize that there are many things that each of us has to do that have nothing whatsoever to do with eternity, but the question still comes to mind "At the end of this day, have I done ANYTHING that will make a difference in eternity?". For me, there are too many days when my honest answer would be "no". It's not because I didn't want to or didn't plan to, it's because I lost my focus.
John 15:4-5 NIV
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
By the way... there are 5280 feet in a mile.... now you know something that Eienstein didn't!
Whatever It Takes,
Chip
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment