SCRIPTURE: “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13-14 KJV)
QUOTE: “I believe that in life, you have to give things your best shot, do your best. You have to focus on what needs to be done, do the right thing, not the popular thing.” -David Cameron
NOTE:
This is the best part. Take time to dream, hope and ideate about the future. Your ambitions don’t have to be big. And in fact, sometimes small is best. Give thought to new habits you want to cultivate, new behaviors you want to foster and new horizons you want to explore. Beyond the obvious goals you may set for career, finances and physical health, also consider how you want to develop new skills, new connections or new ways you can contribute in your community. Remind yourself about what’s working and what you’re proud of. Plan to invest energy in maintaining these areas of success, at the same time you look toward reaching, stretching and growing forward.
There’s a saying that applies here: “In the end, it will all work out. If it hasn’t worked out yet, it’s not the end.” Everyone gets an asterisk for 2022. It’s been a tough year. If your career dipped or plateaued, if your sales plummeted or if your emotions were in the dumps, you know circumstances had a lot to do with these conditions. But we humans are nothing if not adaptable, so with the end of 2022, you have the opportunity to pull yourself up, focus on the future, maintain hope for all that will come next and begin again. This year, 2023 is a new opportunity.
ILLUSTRATION:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. Therefore, I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” (1Cor. 9:25-27 BSB)
REFLECTION:
- Have you suffered as a result of lack of focus before?
- How focused are you now?
TWO YEAR BIBLE READING: Genesis 32 – 33, Psalm 20