Stay Focused

Stay Focused

"Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you."  Proverbs 4:25

Every athlete knows that the secret to winning  is staying focused.    Whatever sport you participate in, your focus must constantly be on your goal.    Marathon runners, for instance,  must be consistent in their training They must run longer and longer distances to get fit for their race with the thought of finishing the motivating factor.  Because it takes time, hard work and sacrifice to train, those who lose sight of the goal can easily become discouraged and give up.   The same is true about our walk with Jesus.  If we take our eyes off Him, even for a moment, we are destined to fail.  "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."  1 Peter 5:8

The book of Acts 16:16-34 tells the story of Paul and Silas who were stripped, beaten and thrown into jail for teaching about Christ and healing a demon possessed girl.  It seems she was a slave that could predict the future (through demons) and earned quite a sum of money for her owners.  Rather than rejoice at her healing, her owners were angry at their loss of income, and seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to meet with the authorities.  Even though they had committed no crime, they were placed in stocks designed for holding the most violent prisoners .  Despite their situation, they spent the night praying and singing hymns and praises to God as the other prisoners listened.  The story gets even better as God sent an earthquake that caused all the prison doors to fly open and everyone's chains to be loosed.  When the jailer woke, he was going to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.  When he found that Paul and Silas were still there he decided that God must be real and he wanted to know this Jesus they talked about.  Because Paul and Silas stayed focused, the jailer and his whole family were saved and baptized!!  What amazing things we can accomplish too when we keep our eyes fixed on our Creator.

There are two things they did because they were focused that we should remember:  they waited for God to tell them when to move and they kept praising God while they waited for Him to move.   They achieved their goal of winning others to Christ because they trusted God and kept their thoughts on Him.  Colossians 3:2 tells us to, "Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth."   By focusing on Christ, we can and will make it to the finish line. We will encounter some detours and hurdles along the way, that is certain,  but we will finish the race.

Heavenly Father, thank you for being with us through this life as we strive to live for you.  Help us to always look directly forward and keep our gaze straight on you at all times.  May we live a life worthy to claim the prize of salvation.  In your precious name we pray Jesus, Amen.  

Happy Running!!!  

Great song-unfortunately the video is not of the US.  Very inspirational song though.  Enjoy.