First, please pray for my friend Dr. Keith Thomas. He has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is having surgery today at 10:00 a.m. at M. D. Anderson Hospital in Houston. I have great concern for Keith, as he is one of my close friends. I have traveled to Houston to be with him during this time. Please pray today. If you’d like to read previous posts about Keith, click here.

Now, moving on to our 1 Thing series.

As we continue exploring the 1 Thing God has put before us for 2008, we need to be aware of something, the one thing you must do to become more like Christ and win on this side of life is wrapped up in these two words—release and focus.

Release. We must all learn to forget what lies behind, just like Paul did. Victories, defeats, hurts, struggles, these are just baggage. You have 14 days left to carry a grudge, glory in your achievements, wallow in the mire of your self-pity, or to have a poor attitude about something, but when the clock strikes midnight on January 1, 2008, let it go!!! You need to release your past, not carry it around with you.

Focus. Paul says he is “reaching forward to what lies ahead.” He is focused on the goal! How focused are you? Are you moving towards your goals? Do you even have any? We live in a world with too many choices. I read this past week we suffer from over-choice! We have: “67 varieties of toothpaste, 487 styles of shoes, 186 brands of cell phones with 137 telephone companies. We demand more variety than we could possibly need or want; and as a result, we get lost in options, opportunities, and choices. There are 87 varieties of lawyers, and 75 specialties inside medicine.” No wonder we can’t focus! In a world of over-choice, it is difficult to focus on one thing and to not be distracted.

Pastor Rick Warren says this, “Today’s leaders set goals way too small and try to accomplish them way too fast. We need to set huge goals and take a lifetime to accomplish them.” These words are challenging words. They are convicting to me. We need to stop setting small goals and then failing to follow through.

A goal is a statement of your faith. Any goal you have in your life needs to be a S.M.A.R.T. goal:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

Begin to ask God what S.M.A.R.T. goals he has for you in 2008.