FRIDAY

Philippians 3:14

• What goal are you pressing on toward?

How hard can it be? I thought to myself, tugging at the itchy P.E. shorts and throwing my hair in a sloppy ponytail as I walked onto the soccer field. I’d never played soccer, per se, but I’d seen people do it and it seemed like a pretty straightforward game. Get the ball into the goal—a different iteration of the same template for pretty much all sports, if you asked me.

It was, in fact, much more difficult than Lionel Messi had convinced me. I kicked the ball (whenever I was actually fast enough to get a kick in), and it never went anywhere close to the net. It felt like the goalie was taunting me. It was that day I gave up the idea of being good at soccer.

Goals are difficult. Pursuing goals is a lot like the game of soccer—literally and figuratively. It is so, so easy to get sidetracked or otherwise removed from the path you have every intent to follow. It’s not a straight, simple line to the goal. It’s full of chaos.

This is why it’s so crucial to define and remember your goals. What are your spiritual goals? How can you pursue them today?