Stay Focused

“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:13-14

The apostle Paul compares our lives on this earth to a race – not in the way that we are to rush through and pay no heed to the people stumbling and falling around us, but in the way that we have limited time to tell others about Him, and also in the way that we have a goal to set our eyes on. While I was held in bondage to my sin, Jesus freed me from it and gave me the ability to run.

So what holds me back from running a good race? I could write a list a mile long of the things I stumble over, but the root of the issue really is quite simple; I stop moving forward when I get distracted by the things going on around me and lose sight of my goal.

As long as I have Jesus in my sight, I stay on focus; but when I give in to distraction, my pace slows and I don’t find my rhythm again until my focus is corrected. Like an athlete running a race, focus is one the biggest keys to running well.

The reasons I come up with to drop out of the race are really reasons to keep running, because my failures really should drive me to Christ. His blood is the only thing that can right my wrongs, and I only have access to it when I throw myself at His feet and ask for it. The real reason I give up is because of the lies Satan throws at me; but no lie ever became a truth by being told enough times.

God gave me eyes in the front of my head, not on the sides or the back of my head; maybe that is an indication where my focus should be.  The past should be a reference point, but I don’t live there. I sincerely believe that there is no greater form of dishonor to my Lord than living like I am still in bondage to my sin after He has freed me.