Checking off those goals?

Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us. (Hebrews 12:1 TLB)

As we focus on our goals accomplished this week, let us take a moment to examine how we are doing with our 'goal' to be closer to Christ. How well did we do on that one? Did we take time each day to get into his Word, not just with a casual 'look-see', but with intent? Did we find ourselves 'tripping' over some old sin pattern that we thought we'd be able to overcome this week, but didn't do so well with? Did we 'run' toward sin or away from it? Don't despair when your goals aren't met - perhaps they just need a little 'revisit' this week, with a little less of our 'focus' and a little more of God's presence.

Some of our 'goals' might actually be slowing down our forward progress in this growth we expected. They aren't bad goals; they are just keeping us from being focused on what it is we really need more than anything else - Jesus' presence. Those goals are keeping us so tightly encased and entrenched that we cannot move into the freedom Christ intends for us to experience. A butterfly can only fly once it is free of the cocoon. Even then, its wings must unfold, dry, and begin to flutter before it will ever have 'lift-off'. We might have found ourselves 'encased' in a great 'spiritual cocoon' of sorts, but now it is time to allow the next processes to occur.

The next steps in our spiritual journey may have been 'understood' only a little bit when we started on the journey, but after some time spent with Jesus this week, we might be seeing that we aren't really 'there' yet (wherever 'there' really is). The time might have come for us to get out of our 'spiritual cocoon' and begin to prepare for flight. That can be a bit scary, for the butterfly is very vulnerable when it cannot yet fly. That time between 'hatching' and 'flying' is also very scary for us. We don't have 'wings' yet - it seems like we are still a bit 'mired down'. It is time to allow the LIGHT to get us ready just as the butterfly relies upon the sunshine to ready them.

If the butterfly emerged with all that 'goo' on their wings and just fluttered about trying to get lift-off, they would attract a whole lot of attention from unwanted sources. In much the same way, when we try to fly before we have allowed Jesus to complete that work within us, we can be making ourselves very vulnerable to our enemy and to failure. We must 'launch' when Jesus says we are ready, but we must stay put when he tells us we need just a little more of his focused attention. Either of these positions requires our obedience, don't they? How did we do with our choices this week? Did we find ourselves moving toward obedience more than we did disobedience? Then I'd say we had a pretty successful week. Just sayin!