Most of the Time it’s Because We Aren’t Focused on the Target
Why is it that we can so easily lose our focus? There are a few reasons for a lack of focus. It could be the millions of things that surround us every day that are working extra hard to get our attention. Or it could be because we’re bored, tired, wired, or busy.
Focus can be hard but it’s vital for accomplishing your goals.
Too often when we are about to accomplish our goal, we lose our focus and quit. Focusing and persisting can be hard but it’s worth the effort.
“A sailor who fearfully watches stormy seas lash his vessel will always steer an unproductive course. But a wise and experienced captain keeps his eye firmly fixed on the lighthouse. He knows that by guiding his ship directly to a specific point, the time spent in discomfort is lessoned. And by keeping his eye on the light, there never exists one second of discouragement.”
From the 7th Decision in The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews
I will persist without exception.
If you’ve ever come close to achieving something but didn’t quite reach your goal, you’ve probably heard the saying, “Close, but no cigar.”
Have you ever stopped to think about this phrase? And why a cigar?
The expression, “Close, but no cigar” means that a person fell slightly short of the desired outcome and therefore gets no reward.
The phrase most likely originated in the 1920s when fairs, or carnivals, would hand out cigars as prizes. At that time, the games were targeted towards adults. Yes, even in the ’20s most carnival games were impossible to win which often led the owner of the game to say, “Close, but no cigar” when the player failed to get enough rings around bottles or was just shy of hitting the target.
It’s easy enough to see why it’s hard to hit a target when playing carnival games where the odds are stacked against you.
But real life isn’t a carnival game.
In real life we can hit our target if we align our goals with God’s
Too often we think we have it all figured out only to find out later that we don’t, like Nicodemus the Pharisee in John 3:1-17. He was a smart Jewish leader and should have known what the Scriptures said. He said to Jesus, “You could not do miracles unless God were with You.” And Jesus replied, “You must be born again before you can see God’s Kingdom.” Nicodemus asked, “How can a grown man ever be born a second time?”
Jesus replied, “Everyone who has faith in the Son of Man will have eternal life. God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life.”
Close, but no cigar, Nicodemus.
When we disregard Scripture and live our lives contrary to its teaching, we will miss the target. There is a difference between knowing of God and KNOWING GOD.
Live your life so that you don’t hear God tell you…close but no cigar.
God held nothing back in His love for us, not even His Son! We should hold nothing back in our focus on the target.