My oldest son is a football fanatic. If you ask him where he wants to go to college, he’ll answer, “Wherever they’ll let me play football.”
If you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up, he’ll say, “A football player. And if that doesn’t happen, a professional drummer. And if I can’t do that, something in communications I guess.” (Well, I’m glad he’s thought that through..LOL) 🙂
Everything he does seems to be for football. He lifts to be stronger for football. He runs track to get in shape and be faster for football.
He loves football. He lives for football.
He had a scrimmage last week, and he was so stoked when he got home. We won. (We dominated, actually.) He got to play football. He was pumped up!
That’s why what I heard him say made me stop in my tracks.
In the middle of his post-football game high, his sister asked him a question. “What’s your goal in life?”
I was waiting for the word football to come flying out of his mouth, of course.
But he looked at her a little surprised and repeated the question back to her. “What’s my goal in life?” He thought for a minute and said, “To lead a lot of people to Jesus.”
Wait. What? Whew.
I know how much he loves football, and it made my heart so happy that Jesus is first. His goal. His aim in life. His purpose.
And Philippians 3 immediately came to mind.
But whatever I used to count as my greatest accomplishments, I’ve written them off as a loss because of the Anointed One. And more so, I now realize that all I gained and thought was important was nothing but yesterday’s garbage compared to knowing the Anointed Jesus my Lord. For Him I have thrown everything aside—it’s nothing but a pile of waste—so that I may gain Him. I want to know Him inside and out. I want to experience the power of His resurrection and join in His suffering, shaped by His death, so that I may arrive safely at the resurrection from the dead. I’m not there yet, nor have I become perfect; but I am charging on to gain anything and everything the Anointed One, Jesus, has in store for me—and nothing will stand in my way because He has grabbed me and won’t let me go. Brothers and sisters, as I said, I know I have not arrived; but there’s one thing I am doing: I’m leaving my old life behind, putting everything on the line for this mission. I am sprinting toward the only goal that counts: to cross the line, to win the prize, and to hear God’s call to resurrection life found exclusively in Jesus the Anointed.
And I especially love how the Amplified puts verse 10:
For my determined purpose is that I may know Him.
Too many people make the dream their goal. Ever been there? I sure have. But even God given dreams were never meant to be the goal in life.
That doesn’t mean we aren’t supposed to do the dream. To pursue it. To go after it. It just isn’t supposed to be the goal in life. The dream was always meant to be a byproduct of life in Him.
If your dream is your goal, and what you do changes, you will tailspin. Feel like a failure. Maybe even give up all together.
There will be seasons in life that look just like the dream. That what you are doing and that picture in your heart match perfectly. You’ll think – wow! Success! Goal!
But there are also seasons that come in life that look polar opposite of the dream. It happened to Abraham. It happened to Joseph and to Moses and to David. And you might be tempted to think – wow, am I a failure!
Seasons come and seasons go. But if you have made knowing Him your goal, you’ll stay steady through every season.
I like a line in the movie Facing the Giants. The coach looks at the kids and says, “And if we win, we praise Him. And if we lose, we praise Him. Either way, we honor God with our actions and attitudes.”
The goal was not just winning or losing. The goal was honoring God.
Alex may play football after high school. He may not. I don’t know what God’s plan for him is. But I do know if he can keep his goal in life to know Him and to lead as many people to Him as possible, he’ll be okay.
I’ve changed my goal in life. It used to be about what I get to do. But I found years ago it’s a lot sweeter when it’s all about the One I get to know and how many people I can introduce to His love and grace and mercy and power.
What’s your goal?