Where Is Your Focal Point?

I find painting and art to be fascinating, when I see simple artistic ventures I think to myself.... yeah... I can probably do that, then when I try to draw it the drawing looks like that of a five year old, so perhaps I should leave the art to those with that skill.

The Focal Point

When I was in 8th grade art, I drew a picture of a room, there were chairs and a bed and I made the lines all slanty like so that it would seem as if one was looking into a room and it made physiological sense. Well I turned that drawing in and needless to say I got a less than acceptable grade, and written on the top of the paper in red ink were the words "where is your focal point?"

In life we need a focal point, a goal or focus that draws us nearer to the eventuality of an ultimate goal, but what is our ultimate goal? I'm not talking about loosing five pounds this week, or becoming a big corporate guru, no, I want you to think and ask yourself, what is the end-all-be-all, when I lay my head down to rest for the last time, what will I have desired to ultimately accomplish in my life, and am I secure in where I am going after this?

God has a focal point for us, and prophets have told us that "by small and simple great things are brought to pass" and he wants us to reach our potential, that's why difficulties, people, and other things are put in our path, so that we can make the choices that will point us toward eternity. How do we take the next step to eternity spent with a loving Father in Heaven, What is the path that he has pointed us towards, Why do we want to be there? All of these are innate questions that we as human beings have, but we have recieved answers all we have to do is adhere to them, and one of those answers is Baptism. God has told us that it is an essential covenant to enter into his kingdom, and that baptism must be performed by someone who holds Gods authority to seal on earth and in heaven. We will get to the why later but first is a story of what it can do for us!

This next story of becoming is truly one that I love, because he sees a major shift in who he was and who he now is and because his focal point has shifted from himself to Jesus Christ he is forever becoming a better person

Growing up I never really cared to get to know who God was, and I never felt like I needed Him. At school and on the field I had life pretty well figured out. I had scholarships and offers to accomplish my lifelong dreams in baseball. To a lot of people it looked like life came easy for me. But at home I had a family that was falling apart due to alcohol addictions. To everyone around me it seemed like I had it all, but I wanted the home life that everyone else around me had. I thought that this was just the hand I was dealt for my life and that I needed to accept that. So I started making bad decisions and became content with the way my life was going. Throughout all of this a good friend and teammate of mine was taught by the missionaries and baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He saw me changing my values for the people around me, and thought that the message the missionaries shared would bring some clarity to me with the questions I had on what was going on in my life. Eventually I began meeting with the missionaries, but I wasn't open to what their message entailed because of the change it would require me to make in order to live the Gospel. But when they taught me the Plan of Salvation I had my eyes opened and felt like I was starting to understand what life was all about. Hearing that God has big plans for each of us and that we all have the opportunity to change our circumstances, gave me a vision of what life would be like if all the blessings that came from loving the Gospel were true. So I started keeping the commitments that the missionaries left me, and overtime I couldn't deny the blessings that had come from living the Gospel standards. I also saw that if we focus on accomplishing the goals and journey God has prepared for us, that He will take care of all of our other wants and desires; and that we would have a happier life here on earth, and in the life to come. Just like He has promised! Four years after joining the church, I have seen a kid who was caught up in every ungodly thing this world has to offer, turn into a full time missionary sharing the same great message that changed his life with people everyday. I have also seen a family that was falling apart become a family focused on the well being of one another. I have a testimony that God keeps His promises. If we follow the example our Savior has given us, we can know that God will take care of any other concern or trial in due time. I know that the Gospel of a Jesus Christ works and that it blesses the family as well as the individual, and all God asks of us is to seek Him and His counsel first so He can bless our lives (3 Nephi 13:31-33) :) 

Baptism has changed his life for the better, and I know that it is such an essential thing for us to take that covenant upon ourselves. It comes to the point in our life where we must choose where we stand and what stand we want to make, as we make that covenant with God we are telling him that we promise to follow our savior and in return we are blessed more then we could ever imagine. I know that I hold my covenant with God so dear to my heart, and it's such a blessing in my life, and as we strive to follow our savior we are baptized to show to our heavenly father that we are willing to unite our will with his.