Keeping Your Eyes on Jesus: Focus, Foundation, Direction

Solomon’s Proverbs 4 provides a practical framework for spiritual focus: vision, foundation, and direction. The call to “keep thy heart with all diligence” frames the heart as the source of life, where choices either open the way to health and life or to danger and destruction. Focus begins with vision—fixing the eyes on Christ and setting the mind on heavenly things rather than earthly distractions—so daily decisions, relationships, and work align with God’s purposes. Establishing a sound foundation follows: lives must rest on the Word and on Jesus as the chief cornerstone, not on shifting pleasures, reputation, or good-but-dominating responsibilities that displace devotion. Practical illustrations—distracted driving, a rattlesnake encounter, and plowing straight rows—underscore how small lapses of attention and misplaced affections produce spiritual instability.

Direction completes the trio: keeping a straight path by refusing detours to the right or left and removing the foot from evil. The text exhorts persistent forward motion—forgetting what lies behind and reaching for what lies ahead—so that daily faithfulness becomes a race run with endurance, eyes fixed on Jesus the author and finisher of faith. The message also presses the urgency of definitive spiritual decisions: life’s unpredictability means readiness for eternity depends on responding to Christ now, not later. Finally, the community’s life expresses these priorities with practical care—announcements about service, support for those in need, youth ministry opportunities, and public baptism—demonstrating that doctrinal clarity must issue in loving action and evangelistic urgency. Prayer, mutual encouragement, and obedience form the expected outworkings when vision, foundation, and direction converge in a life rebuilt around Christ.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Keep eyes fixed on Jesus Keeping the gaze on Christ reshapes priorities and stabilizes response to trials. Fixing attention on the risen Lord recalibrates ambition, softens resentment, and sustains hope when circumstances press. This focus produces confidence at Christ’s return and fuels daily perseverance without being enslaved to past hurts or present anxieties. [56:04]
• 2. Build life on Christ A life rooted in Scripture and Christ resists erosion from temptation and cultural shift. When Jesus stands as the chief cornerstone, relationships, work, and joys find proper order and meaning. Foundations determine endurance; a shaky base yields spiritual collapse, while a gospel-centered base produces established ways. [46:45]
• 3. Reject distracting concerns and offences Allowing grievances, comparisons, or busy-ness to monopolize attention thwarts spiritual fruit. Discernment must uproot recurring irritations and redirect energy toward kingdom tasks rather than retaliatory focus. Letting go of petty preoccupations frees the heart for compassion, witness, and obedient action. [40:56]
• 4. Decide now about eternity Life’s brevity makes delayed repentance a risky gamble; readiness requires an immediate, personal response to Christ. Salvation demands both heart belief and public confession, and settling eternity now frees daily living from fear and futility. The invitation to choose should not be postponed. [59:49]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [12:03] - Yard Sale & Support for Cindy Autry
• [13:08] - Volunteer Sign-up & Blood Drive
• [14:11] - Communication Options (Calls & Texts)
• [15:11] - Baby Table & Birthdays
• [17:08] - Opening Prayer and Worship
• [31:41] - Return to Proverbs Series
• [32:18] - Key Verses from Proverbs 4
• [34:07] - The Heart: Source of Life
• [37:13] - Focused Vision: Where Are You Looking?
• [46:45] - Focused Foundation: Where Are You Standing?
• [50:53] - Focused Direction: Where Are You Going?
• [59:49] - Invitation: Eternity and Decision
• [64:00] - Baptism and New Believers
• [72:17] - Closing Prayer and Dismissal

Bible reading: Proverbs 4:20-27 (ESV)
My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

Observation questions

1. According to verses 23-27, what three specific actions are we instructed to take concerning our heart, our eyes, and our feet?
2. What are the two contrasting outcomes described for those who heed these words versus those who do not (v. 22, v. 27)?
3. The sermon used the illustration of a distracted driver. What was the specific distraction that caused him to swerve all over the road? [39:11]
4. What did the plowing illustration teach about the importance of having a fixed point of focus? [53:55]

Interpretation questions

1. Why is the heart described as the source from which "the springs of life" flow? What does this suggest about the importance of what we allow to reside there?
2. The instruction to "not swerve to the right or to the left" implies there is a narrow, straight path. What might this path represent in a spiritual sense, and what are the "ditches" on either side that we could swerve into?
3. The sermon mentioned that even good things, like our careers or our children, can become wrong if they have more of our focus than Jesus does. [42:23] How can something good become a spiritual distraction or a faulty foundation?
4. How does the command to "ponder the path of your feet" relate to the earlier command to "keep your heart with all vigilance"? What is the connection between our inner life and our outward actions?

Application questions

1. "Keep your heart with all vigilance." What is one specific "issue" or unhealthy reaction that tends to flow from your heart when you are not diligently guarding it? What is one practical step you can take this week to install a "guard" against it? [34:07]
2. "Let your eyes look directly forward." What person, past hurt, or present anxiety most often causes you to stare into the "rearview mirror" of your life instead of looking straight ahead at Christ? [55:08] What would it look like to consciously "give it to Jesus" each time it comes to mind this week? [41:24]
3. "Ponder the path of your feet." If your life continues on its current trajectory, focused on the same things and built on the same foundation, where will you be spiritually in one year? Is this the direction you want to go?
4. The foundation of a building determines its endurance. [46:19] On what one thing—other than Christ and His Word—are you most tempted to build your sense of security, identity, or significance (e.g., job performance, family, reputation)? How can you actively reposition that area to rest on Christ alone this week?
5. Life’s brevity means readiness for eternity depends on a present response to Christ. [58:21] Is there any doubt in your mind about where you would spend eternity if today were your last day? If so, what is holding you back from settling that today?