'Focus' on Christ.

THIS WEEK my brother and my dad went with my uncle and my cousin to see a basketball game in Orlando, Florida. That left me, my mom and my sister at home for the afternoon and the evening. I had a wonderful time: Mom had to visit 3 Sisters' Chocolate and Cakery on San Jose Boulevard about a wedding cake they couldn't do (so they needed her to make it) and she bought us some chocolate, which was quite delicious. Later we went to Whole foods and bought an interestingly various and delicious set of products: a pomegranate, some almond butter, a block of parmesan cheese, two bags of really nice chips, etc.
But apart from this snatch of my rather interesting and joy-filled life, I'd like to share with you an interesting item I saw at Whole Foods. Focus Beads - colorful, pretty bracelets that are supposed to help you by making you 'focus' on something you want. There was a square sign with square photos of beads representing each kind of bracelet, each saying, "Focus on..." followed by something like "Hope," "Love," "Inner Strength," and even "Forgiveness." Upon noticing these I remarked to my mother and my sister as I ran my finger in a square past all the pictures, "Look at all the things people need, and they think they can get them from beads."
The beads were beautiful in appearance, and their textures and colors looked like somebody had been careful to match them to the thing they were suppoesed to get you. I could not help but be fascinated that there were all these things that people long for in their hearts and consciously seek after in their lives, laid out and listed, and they can all be fulfilled by faith in Jesus Christ!
Thinking about it now, I can even remember a time when I thought such things were worth a shot, as if there were anything to it. Any time when I trusted in rocks or plastic, my faith was simply not very strong at all, and I was heavily distracted with my own plans and desires. Now that I have learned more about all the assurance that can be found in Jesus (and only have more to learn about) I realize how shameful it is: to rely on beads or any other idol is to build your house on the sand. It blows away, and bracelets break, and hearts break, and only God can put the pieces back together correctly, so that a fall only brings His servant closer to Him.
I propose that we Focus on Christ, because focusing on what we want to have does not give it to us, as we can trust neither in our own selves nor in the temporary, worldly things we find in stores. Christmas is a wonderful reminder of this great Gift our God has given to us, "For God so loved the world [that's us] that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever belives in Him shall not perish but have everlasting Life." (John 3:16, as you may or may not know) We should try to keep this reminder from the time we wake up every morning, all year long.
The best part is that we don't need beads or anything else on our exterior to "Focus on" Jesus. He's better than beads, because He does not depend on us and He does not ever break. He is what keeps us from breaking, and He can be fully relied upon, unlike anything else. Only God is completely reliable.