One of the reasons Jesus was able to do all that He did in the short time He walked the earth is that He had a singular focus. He fully knew His purpose and why He had come. And because of that, it allowed Him to stay focused on what was important and remain undistracted by what was not. He didn’t waste time worrying about or spending effort on things that didn’t matter.

In the verse above, Jesus is talking to Pilate in full awareness that this is the end and that He will soon die. One of the most astonishing things about this conversation is that Jesus doesn’t fight back, He doesn’t argue. He could have and He would have been fully justified. He could have freed himself from Pilate’s capture. He could have screamed and fought. He could have proven Himself innocent. He could have argued His case. But He fully submits, even to the point of death. He doesn’t try to change Pilate’s mind or negotiate for a lesser sentence. Jesus just stands bold and constant, unwavering in the face of what’s to come.

Jesus knew where His home was. He had a full understanding of the far surpassing greatness of the Heavenly Kingdom over this earthly one. Many believed He would come to set up His kingdom here. But Jesus had better plans. He knew that anything of this world would fade, so He came to establish for Himself a kingdom that would never fade away or end, a kingdom that was eternal. And because He had His eyes so singularly focused on THAT kingdom, He was able to conquer sin and death.

But Jesus calls our attention to another amazing fact. His disciples and faithful followers, these men and women who’d left everything they loved behind to follow Him, they don’t fight back either. Why? Because Jesus knew that these events needed to happen and had prepared His followers for it. Granted, at times they waivered and doubted, but overall, they submitted to and trusted their leader, their Lord, even when they didn’t understand.

As we take a look at what made Jesus, and later, His disciples successful in furthering the Kingdom of Heaven, there’s so much for us to draw from their examples. Jesus had an eternal mindset, which for Him was easy because He’s eternal. But the amazing thing is, that He passed that eternal mindset on to His disciples. It’s this heaven-focused view that transformed fishers and tax collectors, Pharisees and prostitutes, to devoted followers of Jesus Christ that would choose to devote their lives to something so much bigger than themselves. For over 2,000 years now, the devoted followers of Jesus have had this eternal mindset in common. They’ve understood something that is so easy to miss… this world is passing away.

See, we are all WAY too easily distracted by the worries, pleasures, and happenings of this world. They constantly draw our attention away from what really matters, what will actually last in the end. It’s far harder to look past the distractions and keep our eyes fixed on the world to come. But when we do that, when we shift our view heavenward, we gain the clarity and direction that we will always be missing otherwise.

Through the lens of heaven, the world and people around us take on a new view. Petty arguments lose their power. Earthly treasures lose their shine. Short-sighted goals and expectations lose their appeal. Instead, when we look at the world with a Christ-centered focus on eternity, we will begin to value eternal things far more than earthly ones.

So as you move through your week, I want to challenge you to constantly ask yourself, “Which kingdom am I investing in?” You will find that this question changes the way you look at the world. It will change the way you do your job, talk to your coworkers, or parent your children. It will change the way you spend your money, time, and energy. And as we continue to ask ourselves this question, it will train our hearts and our minds to think more like Jesus every day. When we look where Jesus looked and focus on what Jesus focused on, we will find the peace and strength to move through this life with purpose and meaning.