One of the best five books I've read on business management was written by marketing consultant Al Ries. The book is “Focus “” and right from the start Ries states a premise that he repeats throughout:

 "The key to results is concentration. Economic results require that managers concentrate their efforts on the smallest number of activities that will produce the largest amount of revenue. No other principle is violated as constantly today as the basic principle of concentration. Our motto seems to be: let's do a little bit of everything."

It's not just true for business. It's true for the rest of life and just as hard to manage. Our tendency is to be distracted by dilutions disguised as opportunities.

Last Sunday” ” I taught on a passage from 1 Peter 5: "Cast your anxieties on him because he cares for you."

The word “anxieties” got my attention. We all have them. Polls show that most of our anxieties are related to money” health aging work and relationships. Even more interesting to me is the poll showing that 43 percent of people asked actually admit to manufacturing reasons to worry. They make up scenarios that are unlikely ever to happen ” but they live in a constant anticipation of trouble. How can you focus when part of your brain is generating unlikely scenarios?

So” it's appropriate that the word for anxieties means “that which divides us.” It's not immobilizing fear but those things that distract us and cause us to be in two places at once. How many of us have had a spouse or a child say "I'm talking to you but you're not listening." Most of us ” I imagine. Anxieties make us unfocused and separate us from what matters most. That which divides us keeps us from being fully present with anyone.

In Psalm 86 David says” "Give me an undivided heart" and that is what Al Ries is saying in a way. Give us the ability to concentrate. Eliminate the distractions and the things that divide us and keep us from doing a little bit of everything and not much of anything.