Mensa Otabil - Remain Focused
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Welcome to a brand new week and to the eighth day of our fresh start. You know we’re spending 21 days in prayer, seeking the face of the Lord and entrusting Him for greatness this year. As we do that, it’s always important, in the midst of our prayer and spiritual exercises, that we also apply some practical wisdom to our lives. These may be things you already know, but they bear reminding. We need to keep these thoughts at the center of our hearts as we apply ourselves to the year.
So we look at Proverbs chapter 4, verses 25 to 27: «Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or to the left; remove your foot from evil.» There are lots of instructions in this small piece of scripture, and we’re going to focus on four of them that I trust would be helpful to you as you start right this year.
The first one says, «Let your eyes look straight ahead.» What does that mean? It means have a clear vision of where you are going. It’s always important that as we begin a project, a year, a week, or whatever we start, we have a picture in our minds of where we want to get to. We must see it with the eye of our imagination, but it’s essential to have clarity of vision to be able to see the path we want to get on. That’s the first thing: if you haven’t done it this year, take time to write down a sentence or two of the clear things you want to achieve this year, where you want to get to in your life.
The second instruction says, " Ponder the path of your feet.» The word " feet» represents the steps you have to take. After you’ve seen clearly where you want to go, you have to move there; you have to take some steps. You must ponder the path of your feet. What does that mean? Think carefully about the steps you are about to take, all the steps you will take each day, each week, each month of this year. We’re going to take some steps, and we have to ponder them. We don’t just act irrationally, follow the crowd, or do whatever everybody else is doing. We ponder the path; we think about it. So don’t only have a clear vision, but also think about the steps you must take.
The third instruction from Proverbs is, «Do not turn to the right or to the left.» This simply means maintain your focus. The steps you take must be in line with the vision you have. Many times people say they' re going to achieve a goal, but every step they take seems to lead them astray. Don’t turn to the left or to the right from the vision and clarity of purpose that you have developed. It’s vital, as you engage in any enterprise or activity, to have a clear vision, think through the steps you’re taking, and actually take the right steps toward where you are going.
The fourth thing we learn from this passage is, «Remove your foot from evil.» This means don’t do the wrong thing. Don’t associate with the wrong company, and don’t let people influence you to go places you’re not supposed to go. It may not be evil in the sense of being bad, but you might find people leading you to spend all your time just playing, having fun, eating, and going places. You could spend the whole year engaged in activities that do not help you achieve the vision you have set for yourself.
So have a clear vision, think through the steps you have to take, actually take steps leading you to where you’re going, and don’t let people convince you to go in the way of evil or do the wrong thing. If you do that, you’re going to have great success this year.
Let’s pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, help me to have a focused vision for this year. Order my steps in the way I should go, in Jesus' name, amen and amen. Well, I’ll catch you again tomorrow. Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.