I recently had the opportunity to take a surfing lesson in California. As we drifted in the waves waiting for the right timing, Rick gave me a tip that I will never forget. He said, “Fix your eyes on the horizon, on a place that you are aiming towards. If you look down, that’s where your body will go. But if you look at the shore, that’s what your body will move towards.” This proved true in surfing and is also true of life. Where we look towards, there we will go. What we focus on, we will become.
If we focus on our inabilities and fears, we will only see those and will not be able to take the steps that lead us to success. Often when we focus on failure by worrying, we fail. When we focus on every unfavorable detail of our circumstances, we lose hope in a brighter future and fail to see the perspective and growth our circumstances offer. On the other hand, when we focus on the goal, we move towards it. Each step doesn’t seem as big when we maintain hope by fixing our eyes on the end result. We climb each mountain, one step at a time. We keep our eyes on the summit and slowly rise to achieve our goal.
Have you ever been around a group of people who are gossiping, complaining, arguing or talking about vain topics? How did you feel afterwards? What did your mind tend to focus on? On the contrary, when you focus on truth and the positive attributes of people or circumstances, what is possible and worthwhile, how does it change you and the atmosphere around you? What we behold, we become.
The writer of Hebrews urges us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross and shame, for our sake. He finished what He set out to accomplish. When we focus on Jesus and follow His example of love, surrender and obedience, we become like Him and "win the race," achieving God's purposes for our life, as the passage goes on to describe. When we behold Him, we become like Him. In Philippians 4:8, Paul directs our thinking to "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things." What we focus on we begin to think about, act upon and become like. Our character eventually flows from what we focus on.
While surfing, whenever I recalled Rick’s words and fixed my eyes on the horizon, I stayed stable on the board and caught the wave. Even through periods of instability, I rode the wave towards my target, the shoreline. However, if I focused down at the placement of my feet, the moving water threw me off balance and the board slipped from beneath me as I lost the wave. Just as in surfing, so it is in life…what we focus on, there we will go. So, what will you focus on today?
If we focus on our inabilities and fears, we will only see those and will not be able to take the steps that lead us to success. Often when we focus on failure by worrying, we fail. When we focus on every unfavorable detail of our circumstances, we lose hope in a brighter future and fail to see the perspective and growth our circumstances offer. On the other hand, when we focus on the goal, we move towards it. Each step doesn’t seem as big when we maintain hope by fixing our eyes on the end result. We climb each mountain, one step at a time. We keep our eyes on the summit and slowly rise to achieve our goal.
Have you ever been around a group of people who are gossiping, complaining, arguing or talking about vain topics? How did you feel afterwards? What did your mind tend to focus on? On the contrary, when you focus on truth and the positive attributes of people or circumstances, what is possible and worthwhile, how does it change you and the atmosphere around you? What we behold, we become.
The writer of Hebrews urges us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross and shame, for our sake. He finished what He set out to accomplish. When we focus on Jesus and follow His example of love, surrender and obedience, we become like Him and "win the race," achieving God's purposes for our life, as the passage goes on to describe. When we behold Him, we become like Him. In Philippians 4:8, Paul directs our thinking to "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things." What we focus on we begin to think about, act upon and become like. Our character eventually flows from what we focus on.
While surfing, whenever I recalled Rick’s words and fixed my eyes on the horizon, I stayed stable on the board and caught the wave. Even through periods of instability, I rode the wave towards my target, the shoreline. However, if I focused down at the placement of my feet, the moving water threw me off balance and the board slipped from beneath me as I lost the wave. Just as in surfing, so it is in life…what we focus on, there we will go. So, what will you focus on today?