Daily Devotional

Over the past number of days, I have been thinking about how easy it is to lose focus on what is important.  There is so much that is crying out for our attention.  It is easy to set aside what should have priority in our lives.   We neglect our relationship with the Lord and our family, to chase after things that cannot bring fulfillment in life.  Yes, they bring pleasure for the moment but ultimately they are empty and devoid of real substance.  Today we need to forget what was behind and to reach forward to what is ahead.  This can only happen as we keep our eyes on the goal.

The Apostle Paul writes that we should be, “reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal...”  When we are “pressing toward the goal,” we are looking at a distant mark on which we fix our eyes.  There is an end that we have in view.  My dad was a farmer, as his father was before him.  When he would plant the fields with corn or beans, he would make a mark on one end of the field and then pace off the same distance on the other end of the field.  He would line up his John Deere tractor and drive straight toward the mark he had made.  Farmers would pride themselves in how straight their crops were planted.  There were no GPS-guided tractors as farmers use today.  It was all skill in being able to drive straight.  My dad was really good at making straight rows of corn.  

In the same way, we should set our eyes on the goal, as we go through life, not allowing anything to distract us.  God is encouraging us to keep on going regardless of the circumstances or what is happening around us.  We are to be like a runner who fixes his eyes on the finish line and keeps running his very best in order to finish the race well.  It is interesting that God wants us to run the race of life He has planned for us, not in competition with others, but to finish the course for His glory.  

As we run life’s race, we realize that everyone’s course is different, but with some similarities.  The course may be steep and difficult at times.  The course also may be flat and restful.  But the truth that we should understand is that God has planned each of our courses for us to run.  We are not to compare our course with someone else but to keep our eyes fixed on the goal.  The goal is to build character and Christ-likeness.

Today, God has laid out the course of each of our lives for us to run.  We may sprint out at the beginning of the race, it may seem easy and we may feel that nothing can stop us.  But as one day wears on to the next, the course will become more difficult, and the temptation is to quit.  To quit would be to cut short God’s work in our lives.  We need to develop the determination to keep going when everything within us wants to stop.  We need to learn to draw on God’s strength for every step that we take.

Eventually, we cross the finish line of life’s course, and we reach the end of our race.  There is a waiting for us a prize.  The word Paul uses for “prize” refers to an award given to the victor in the ancient Greek games.  This prize focuses on two things.  It first focuses on the return of Christ, “the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  Paul’s focus is on the return of Christ and our being with Him.  When we focus on Christ’s return, it will bring purity to our lives.  We will be anticipating and looking for Christ’s return each day.  Secondly, the prize refers to transformed lives and Christ-like character that result from anticipating and ultimately experiencing this great event.  This life-changing focus will have a transforming impact on the way we live moment by moment.  We will live each day with the thought that this could be the day of Christ’s return.  Today, don’t be distracted from this promise of the Lord.      

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, it is so easy to lose our focus and to be caught up in all that there is to do each day.  Help me to pursue You daily.  I want to become more like You and live each day anticipating Your return.  Amen

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New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.