285. Plan Your Path

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Transcript for "Plan Your Path"

Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,
    give careful attention to your herds;
²⁴ for riches do not endure forever,
    and a crown is not secure for all generations. 

Proverbs 27:22-24

My Dad was born in 1921.  He grew up in the Great Depression and was a pilot in World War Two.  He was part of the greatest generation and he raised his kids to be independent early.  He taught my oldest brother to drive a farm tractor and pickup before the age of ten.  He taught me to drive by letting me sit on his lap when I was six.  One deer hunting season in the mid-seventies my Dad, older brother and I drove our 1957 GMC pickup to my Dad’s hometown of Jordan Valley, Oregon (Population 137).  As we drove through the sagebrush desert of Eastern Oregon, my Dad turned to me and asked, “You ready to drive?”  I was eleven years old.  I said, “Sure!”  We pulled over and I ran around to the driver’s side.  I got in with my Dad next to me and my brother on the passenger side.  It was a three-speed manual transmission and the truck had no power steering.  In order to keep it on the road, you had to make constant adjustments to the steering wheel.  It was more like herding than steering the truck.  I was weaving down the road.  I could see my older brother in my periphereal vision grabbing the dashboard, twisting his body and groaning as I make my way toward Jordan Valley.  My Dad was completely relaxed and enjoyed the ride.  All he told me was, “Just look way down the road.  Don’t look at the sides of the road or the lane markers because wherever you look is where you will go.” 

Wherever you look is where you will go.

This piece of advice had value not only for driving, but for life in general.  Anything you concentrate on, you will naturally gravitate toward.  This is the essence of many books that offer advice on the accumulation of money.  When Jesus told his disciples, “Follow me,” he meant literally follow behind me.  We grow spiritually when we keep our eyes on Jesus and his teachings.  That is why it’s so important to keep in the word every day and to pray on a daily basis.

Take a look at what you keep track of.  What are you focused on?  The digital revolution has diminished our capacity to keep one thing in mind consistently.  It keeps us from bearing the good fruit God has in mind for us. 

To become a fruitful disciple, you have to consciously decide where you are looking.  As Psalm 4 cautions:

Above all else, guard your heart,
    for everything you do flows from it.
²⁴ Keep your mouth free of perversity;
    keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead;
    fix your gaze directly before you.
²⁶ Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
    and be steadfast in all your ways.
²⁷ Do not turn to the right or the left;
    keep your foot from evil.

Solomon says that you need to “fix your gaze” and “look straight ahead.”  If we want to keep our hearts on the right path, we have to select what we are looking at and where we are going. 

Multibillion dollar companies are hiring the best talent in the world to get you to fix your gaze on them and their online content and products.  It will take a firm decision to fix your gaze on your own path rather than the one that others would have you travel.

Write down your goals.  One of the most important habits to get into is waking up and choosing where your focus will land on that day.  For example, if you want to win souls and persuade people, you will need to focus on reaching out to people.  Every day, I wake up and read my goals and rewrite them.

Write down your top ten goals over the next five years.  Maybe you want to lose weight, save more souls, save more money or get married.  Whatever it is right it down.  Sometimes it helps to have a goal for each different role or responsibility in your life such as:

·        Relationships and family

·        Money

·        Soul-winning

·        Spirituality and peace of mind

·        Career

·        Fun and adventure

·        Health and fitness

  Write a goal down for each one of these areas.  Keep it in a place you can look at it daily.  Pray over it. 

Keep a log.  Keep track of how you are doing.  There are usually one or two key activities that needs to happen daily if you want to make progress toward your long-term goals.  Keep track of those activities.  That will keep you going toward your spiritual destination.

Early in the planting of the Tucson Church, I wanted to see more people saved.  I created a 90-day program to focus my attention on this goal.  I made it my goal to lead 90 Bible study appointments in 90 days.  I did that and we started baptizing more and more people.  That was the most important thing to focus on if I wanted to save more people.  It doesn’t have to be complicated.  All you have to do is fix your gaze on the right thing. 

Practice:

·        Write down your goals daily over the next week.  Write them down, pray over them and imagine how awesome it would be if they were to come true.  This is the first step in seeing your dreams come true.

·        Keep a daily log that keeps you on track to see your goals materialize.  Choose one daily activity that is essential in moving you toward your goals.  Check the box when you complete the activity.