"Get set …"

To “get set” in a race means positioning yourself into the starting blocks.  It’s getting your entire body in ready position so you can get a strong start to the race. I think this is a fairly obvious analogy to the Christian life, right? We all know that we should “get set” and fix our eyes on the goal. But perhaps where we get confused is …

What is the goal? 

See, can you imagine how ridiculous it would be if an Olympic track runner went out and set up his blocks facing sideways?

What if he set them up so that he was running in the wrong direction? 

See, someone can be a great athlete. They can train their entire life, for hours a day. They can qualify for the Olympics. They can be sincere. They can have all the right motivations and give their heart and soul to competing in this race … but if the blocks are set in the wrong direction, they won’t win the race. In fact, they won’t even be part of the event.

See, my greatest fear in life isn’t that I’ll fail. My greatest fear is that I’ll succeed at things that don’t matter.

That is, that I’ll spend my life racing in the wrong direction. 

I might be the fastest runner in the pack. I might train the most. Might build up my endurance more than anyone. But if I run in the wrong direction, there is no point.

Earlier this week I was fretting about something. Praying about it. Talking to God about my goals and desires regarding it. And then He interrupted me (Yes, I wasn’t listening so He actually had to interrupt me.) His words: “Kari, is that my goal for you?”

Silence.

See, friends, there are a million great things we can do. But in what direction do we need to set our blocks? On what do we set our minds? Each and every morning, when we rise and meet the day, on what should we set our minds? Colossians 3 tells us:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Our track blocks must be set in the right direction. As long as our aims are on earthly things — no matter how good and noble those things are — they will always fall short. If we use worldly methods and have worldly goals, we will never establish God’s upside down Kingdom here on earth. We can make a lot of noise, gather a lot of people, build great programs, but are we fixing our minds on things eternal? Are we making disciples? Are we spreading the gospel? Are we preaching hope? Are we loving people? Are we falling more and more in love with Jesus every single day?  A good question for us would be, concerning any particular goal or aim:

Someday, when I wake up in glory and see my Creator face-to-face, will I be glad I pursued this thing?

Things above. My heart is so prone to wander to shallow, surface, temporal, worldly things. I pray He will give us a greater and greater desire to pursue eternal things. We must set our blocks in the right direction. 

On things above. 

Thanks for reading.