Keeping Christ in the Center

What is the focus of our lives? This question probably has multiple answers. There is the "hoped for" answer. There is our "perceived" answer. There is what "other people would see as the answer" answer. There is the "what it should be" answer. And then, if we are brutally honest with ourselves, there is the honest answer.

As Christians, we proclaim that Christ is the center of our lives. Prayer is the one vehicle that has been thought to keep us focused on God in Christ throughout the ages. As Kennedy points out, the monks placed crosses at the center of their monasteries so that they would be reminded to keep Christ at the center of their prayers. In most of our churches, we have big crosses or crucifixes hanging behind the altar so that we are reminded that Christ is the center of our worship and being. We have thought for a long time that the best way to keep Christ as the centerpiece of our life was to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Personally, I believe we can be in mostly constant prayer. When we pull up to a stoplight, we can pray for the people next to us. As we drive down the road, we can pray for the person driving insanely in front of us. As we go through the checkout lane, we can quietly mutter a prayer for those around us. Just walking through the Target or the Pig is an opportunity for prayer. Not to mention the intentional times that we set aside for prayer.

And the hope, if we are constantly in prayer, is that God in Christ is foremost in our mind as we walk through this life. If we are able to take a step back and look at our lives, I think we will see that when we answer the question, "What is the (REAL) center of our lives?" we will begin to see that we make our decisions based on what's best for that 'real center'. Don't confuse God and church, or God and money, or God and family, or God and .....(fill in your own blank.) This Lent, what changes in our lives, in your life, in my life, do we, you, I need to make to keep God in Christ at the center of your life?