Keep Your Eye On The Goal

Good morning and welcome to Our Daily Walk.

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/222jya

I know that my dad had to have been very frustrated with me. He was an excellent baseball player. I wasn’t. He was trying to teach me to be a better fielder and a better batsman. But I wasn’t always paying attention.

Most days my problem was simply that I couldn’t keep my eye on the ball. It’s difficult to hit a ball when you don’t keep your eye on it. It’s also difficult to field it properly if you take your eyes off the ball before you field it.

There is so much value in that simple routine of keeping your eyes on the goal. The same applications could be made with basketball, bowling, archery and the list could go on and on.

Of course, spiritually speaking we should also keep our eyes on the goal of righteous living and heaven. Peter is a good example for this principle. Notice what happens in the passage from Matthew 14:22-33 when Peter takes his eyes off of Jesus.

“Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God."”

Peter had the courage to want to walk on the water just like Jesus. Yet, he became distracted by the winds and waves and soon his faith was overtaken with fear. When that happened he began to sink and had to be rescued by the Lord.

How many times in our spiritual lives do we act like Peter? We begin a task with boldness but when the winds of doubt and the waves of dissent appear, sometimes our commitment may suffer. Sometimes our faith is overtaken by fear and we begin to sink.

So, what about it? Do you feel like walking on water for Jesus today? Are you up to the task of keeping focused on a goal? What kinds of goals would you have today?

How about staying married for life? Most people begin marriage with this as a goal, but many are not willing to keep their eyes on that goal. It is difficult to work through problems, but not impossible. Need help knowing how to do it? See what God writes about husbands, wives, love, working through problems and forgiveness.

What about a goal of reading the Bible more? At the start of each year many Christians make a commitment to read through the Bible in one year. But by Leviticus 18 they seem to lose their interest. How can a person stay on task and complete this year-long goal?

Surprisingly, the average reader can read through the Bible in one year by only reading about 15 minutes a day. That’s less time than it takes to read the newspaper. And it is about the same amount of time that you will watch commercials during an hour of television programming.

The point is this. Whatever your goal in life, keep your eyes focused on it. If you want to finish college, never take your eyes off of that goal. If you want that promotion at work, don’t let other things distract you. If you want to go to heaven, keep your eyes on your Savior, who died on a cruel cross and rose again to lead us all to God. Keep your eyes on the goal.

On Our Daily Walk today, may we be reminded that God wants us to be faithful to Him unto death, not just for a little while. May we take a moment this day to think of how wonderful it will be to be with all the saved in heaven.

Our thought for the day: “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.” Hannah More.

May God bless you on your daily walk.

© Our Daily Walk, Mike Baker, 2007. Permission is granted to copy these articles provided they are not sold and the author's name and copyright are included.