Stay Focused

Good Morning Gamers!
It's great to "see" you again today! Let's jump right into Proverbs 4, and add to our game plan for life, shall we?? We will be using the NLTse, or course, as well as The Amplified Version (AMP). My bold print for today are verses 25-27:

(NLTse)
25- Look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you

26- Mark a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path

27- Don't get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil

(AMP) 25-26
25- Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you

26- Consider well the path of your feet, let all your ways be established and ordered aright

(WOW! The word of God is so soothing!!)

Everything that we have been talking about in previous posts: "applying our hearts to knowledge and understanding, fearing the Lord, breaking habits", etc --- this doesn't happen by accident or magic. As I posted yesterday, "it will require patience and perseverance...change is a process". Bottom-line: to achieve our goals as Game Planners for Life (GP4L), this deal is going to require us to be focused on a daily basis!!

As verse 25 says: "Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose]". Verse 27 instructs us not "to get sidetracked" (or distracted) & getting distracted is a challenge for us everyday, isn't it? To be honest, I almost got distracted this morning away from reading Proverbs 4!!!

Distractions are designed to sidetrack us -- to knock us off the path towards to our goals. Focus helps us keep our eyes on the prize -- fixed on our goal of "applying our hearts" and staying on the path to that goal.

An acronym for "FOCUS" that I love is:
Fixed
On
Course
Unwaveringly
Steady

Olympic athletes like Michael Phelps, who won an Olympic record 8 gold medals in this last Olympics, are great examples of how to stay focused. They focus on the goal of achieving elite performances by removing all distractions to their training. They change their habits, schedules, and daily routines so that they can concentrate on training. Many even move into the Olympic Training Center in Colorado, so that they can eat, sleep, drink, and LIVE to train for the Olympics.

I believe that we should train harder than them, folks!! Huh???? Yes! Olympic athletes train hard so that they can perform at high levels every four years; while we train to apply our hearts to wisdom to live this awesome Christian life -- EVERYDAY -- with no breaks!

I know -- it's not easy!! I recently got sidetracked because I took my eyes off the path and looked at circumstances instead. I had to wrench my attention from those circumstances and get back on the path --- quickly -- and refocus on my goals. I learned some valuable lessons though; and I am stronger because of it...

So, let's get focused today! Let's keep our eyes on the path with "fixed purpose". As we read in Proverbs 2, "the Lord will grant us a treasure of wisdom and common sense...and we will find the right way to go". Knowing that right way keeps us on the path -- if we stay focused!!

Focus on your goals, GP4L, and don't get sidetracked!! Practice this everyday...