June’s eyes were fixed on the gray car beside her. She had to change lanes to exit the highway, but each time she tried to overtake it, the other driver seemed to speed up too. Finally, she managed to cut in front. Smug in her moment of triumph, June looked in the rearview mirror and smirked. At the same time, she noticed her destination exit passing her by.

With a rueful smile, she recounted: “I was so fixated on overtaking that I missed my exit.”

Such a slip can also happen in our desire to walk in God’s ways. When the religious leaders persecuted Jesus for not keeping the Jewish law (John 5:16), He warned that they’d become so fixated on studying and enforcing the law that they were missing the person the law pointed to: “These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (vv. 39-40).

In trying to be right before God, the religious leaders focused on following the Jewish law and making sure everyone else did too. Likewise, in our zeal for God, we may keep up with good things—church attendance, Bible study, charity work—and even get others to join us. But we can become so focused on them that we miss the person we’re doing them for—Jesus.

In all we do, let’s ask God to help us fix our eyes on Christ (Hebrews 12:2). He alone is “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).