“Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”
(Proverbs 4:25-27 KJV)
The first two months of this
year are nearly gone. Now is a good time to take a look at how we have started
this year. For the first time in many years, I set goals (not resolutions) for
myself—they are ambitious and address different areas of my life. They are all
good (according to my mentor), positive goals that don’t require the
cooperation of others—meaning that I’m responsible for either doing them or not
doing them.
The goals encompass reading,
writing, creativity (singing/piano playing), ministry (including this blog) and
more. They are worded in such a way to allow me to maintain my focus on the
Lord, this is important for me and where I desire to go. Many of my goals focus
on reading spiritually nurturing books and also writing about what I’m learning
(some may eventually end up here).
It is my heart’s sincere
desire that you are setting time aside in your daily schedule to commune with
God and that you’re growing in your relationship with Him. God loves you so
much and desires nothing more than relationship with you. He loves you so much, in fact, He’s crazy
about you! Keeping your eyes on the goal (prize), will help you stay focused
and not get off track. A word of caution: be kind to yourself, realizing that
some days/weeks will not be so great; things will go wrong—give yourself the
grace you deserve—give yourself the grace you would give to others. Encourage
yourself over how far you have come.
It’s when we take our eyes
off of our goal that we have an inclination to go off the path that will take
us to where we want to be. This is rather like driving a car; we need to keep
our eyes on the road ahead of us, not on what is to the sides or behind us. Taking
our eyes off the road when driving could send us off into a ditch; much the
same could be for our spiritual life. It’s easy to recall times where I have gotten off into a “ditch” spiritually because I have focused on the wrong place/thing.
Getting off course is not always easy to correct, in fact, it’s easy (or so it
seems) to over-correct in the opposite direction. Thankfully, we have a wonderfully
patient Teacher and Guide. Jesus stands by; ever ready to guide us back on the
path He has for us.
Moreover, this is where
supportive relationships (accountability) with fellow brothers and sisters in
Christ are so helpful. Our relationships
allow us to lend a helping, supportive hand to a sister or brother who is hurting
or struggling; we can also be on the receiving end of the help and support of
others.
How are you doing with your
New Year’s goals? What goals have you set for yourself and what are you doing
to work towards them?
Please join with me in prayer:
Dear Lord of All, we desire to set our
eyes on the prize—on You, yet sometimes we fail. We get distracted and get far,
far off course. Thank you for all those times you have come after us, to rescue
us from ourselves and from the attacks that threaten to destroy us. Lord, grant us the strength and stamina we
need to keep on keeping on, so that we’ll be able to reach our goal of being
welcomed home by You when we die. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
From My Heart to Yours,
Kim
