Colossians 3:1-2 1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

A few Sunday afternoons ago several of us went to Red's house to shoot clays. At one point Lane Wilson set the targets so that they would come two at a time, one low and fast and the other high and slow. I fire an over and under so I only have two shots. The temptation for me was that if I missed the lower clay, the harder of the two for me to hit, I would waste my second shot on a target that was now even harder to hit. When I would do that I would almost always miss and then I would be left empty watching the second clay come to a gentle landing right in front of me. I needed to forget thr first failure, look up and see the new thing I needed to do.

Two things come to mind. The first is that I often expend my time and energy chasing the last failure rather than focusing on the priority at hand. I have to sit down and actually write out the priorities in order to remind myself of what is truly important. If I have ten things to do and time for only five someone is going to be disappointed. Life somehow works out where the five least important will disappoint the greatest number of people! The right thing to do is to focus on the five that are most important and deal with the consequences as they come.

The other teaching is the one straight from Scripture. As a Christ Follower I am to set myself up to focus on a different set of priorities, His. My focus, like yours, is to be on Him and His Kingdom. How easy it is to let our focus be on the obstacles rather than the goal. I find I have to empty myself daily in order to see what the King has for me.

Blessings in Christ Alone