Keep Your Eye on the Ball!
“And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.” –Matthew 10:11
The football! It’s coming right for me! It’s a perfect throw! Nobody’s even close to me! I’m going to get a touchdown! Thump! Clump! “Chump!” …I missed the ball…
In Matthew 10, Jesus is sending His disciples out on short missionary trips. He does not overkill with detailed instructions by telling them exactly what town to enter or how long to stay. He simply tells them to find a suitable place to stay and “there abide till ye go thence.”
We often act like the football receiver above. We are thinking about what we are going to do with the ball before we have the ball. We live in the past or in the future. But we have trouble abiding where we are until we go thence.
I remember reading one time that a common characteristic of people who accomplish much is their ability to totally concentrate on the task at hand. As believers, we are told to forget those things which are behind (Phil.3:13). In addition, we are to be “careful [full of worries and cares] for nothing” (Phil.4:6). The concerns of the future should not be our meditation.
We are to do whatever we are doing right now “heartily, as to the Lord” (Col.3:23). We are to stay with it until it is time to move on. Stop re-living the past and agonizing over the future. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Mt.6:34). What are you doing right now? Do it for God or stop doing it! Keep your mind on your present task. Give it all your energy. Forget about the touchdown. Just catch the ball.
By David F. Reagan
Copyright © 2002
Antioch Baptist Church Knoxville, Tennessee