Look Ahead

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There once was an old farmer, his entire life he had spent tilling the land and raising his crops. He'd been around long enough to see many changes in the technology and the new equipment for farming come and go, but he still enjoyed using his old tools and tractors much as he could. 

   One spring as he was getting ready to plow the fields getting everything ready, his grandson who was now a young teenager come up to him and asked if he could drive the tractor. The old farmer laughed and allowed the boy to ride with him out to the fields and after doing a couple laps around the field he let the boy take the wheel and drive the tractor.

The boy in all his excitement wanted to see how well he was doing and constantly turned back to see how his progress was, but whenever he turned around he wasn't watching where he was going. As a result many of the rows he did were crooked and angled. The boy in a little confusion looked at his Grandfather and the Farmer explained, "You can't worry about what you've already done, it's behind you already and you can't turn around to go back and fix it. You have to keep your eyes ahead to what's coming and do your best with that." 

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It's a simple concept and a simple story isn't it? And it's one that we can see pretty much in anything that requires you to focus on a point. 

If you're driving down the road and you look out your window you tend to steer in the way you are looking. 

When you go hiking if you get lost what you're supposed to do is stop, set a target to walk towards. A goal if you will, and keep your eyes on that and walk to it. Once you reach it then you look ahead and find another target to walk to. In this way you keep your way straight and you stay oriented.

In the same way in our Christian walk we can not be constantly looking back at where we came from lest we get lost and our path becomes curved or crooked. We should take what happens in our past, the little things that always have us looking back and learn from it. Help us to keep a straighter path on the road that is before us. We need to set our eyes on our goal and keep a straight path to it.

"Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV)

We need to set our eyes on Jesus and on doing the will of God, to please Him in everything we do and say. We need to set our eyes on becoming more Christ like every day.

"I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken." Psalm 16:8

Let's set the goal, and lets keep a straight path.

God Bless,

     Ryan