Goals

We all have our weird quirks. One of mine is that I tend to hyper-focus on things. Another way of putting it is that I obsess.  If I develop a passion or hobby, I am consumed by it.  Praise God that Lori puts up with me, because it can’t be easy. She got me into Martial Arts, but once I got consumed with it, that was my focus, everything that I did or wanted to do, revolved around Martial Arts, and I’m sure I drove her crazy. When God moved us in 1998 because of a job change, I wanted to start a new school, but we both knew that it was a bad idea.  About that same time, God put Dr. Scott Harrell in my life to mentor me. While I was interested in God’s Word prior to this, at this point it became my new obsession. I loved teaching, so my goal went from teaching Martial Arts to teaching people about God and His Word.  I trained with Scott for 2 years, was ordained, and when he moved on, I continued to find classes and ways to learn more.  Even today, I don’t believe that it’s possible for me to ever obtain too much information about God or His Word, it’s my obsession.

Because God and His Word is an obsession for me, I sometimes struggle to understand why it’s not an obsession for everybody else.  I realize that not everybody has the issue of hyper-focusing like I do, but I would encourage everybody to make it a goal to draw closer to God, even if it is in a smaller way.

As we are about to step into a new year, this is the time of year that a lot of people set new goals for their future, but how often are those goals focused on their Spiritual life?

I would encourage you to make your Spiritual health a big part of your 2026.  As we are going through Proverbs with the kids, I am reminded of how practical that book is.  We read Chapter 10 last night and just in that one chapter it says

Proverbs 10:8
⁸ The wise of heart will receive commandments,
but a babbling fool will come to ruin.

Proverbs 10:13
¹³ On the lips of him who has understanding, wisdom is found,
but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense.

Proverbs 10:14
¹⁴ The wise lay up knowledge,
but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.

Proverbs 10:17
¹⁷ Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life,
but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.

Four verses just in that one chapter that point to the wisdom of learning, and doing what’s right.  Scripture is full of references that encourage us to learn it, but we are always too busy, or we create some other excuse.

Often times I think that we fail to recognize that ANYTHING that we put before God is idolatry.  We look at the examples in the Old Testament, such as when Aaron made the golden calf (Exodus 32) and think “Wow, how could they be so stupid? They had just seen what God had done, and they are turning from Him already.”, but are we any different?  Understand, in their minds they were doing nothing wrong, they were worshiping the “gods” that brought them out of Egypt, they were just putting a form to them.

 Exodus 32:4-6
And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” ⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” ⁶ And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

They still believed that they were worshiping God, the God who brought them out of Egypt, there was NOTHING wrong with their actions in their own minds. I know I wrote that twice, but I wanted to emphasize it, because they were completely ignorant to their own failures.  If they, being the people of God could be that clueless, is it possible that we are as well? How often do we put things before God?

Most people today have smart phones, and they come with the ability to download games.  I would encourage you to take one week and keep close track of how much time you spend playing games on your phone. In the same week keep track of how much time you spend reading or studying God’s Word or something related to it.  After you determine how much time you spend at both, answer the question; “Is there anything that you put before God?”.

Maybe it’s not phone games, maybe it’s hobbies, or people, but so often we tend to put God on a back burner to things that we deem as important that aren’t really all that important in the grand scheme of things.

If God is real (obviously I believe that He is, and I assume that you do too, or why else would you be reading a Christian blog), then He is sovereign over all things. (or He wouldn’t be God) Considering that he is sovereign over all things, wouldn’t it be in our best interest to turn to Him for wisdom, knowledge and direction?

When we turn to Him for wisdom, knowledge and direction, we start with His Word.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Other passages that I would encourage you to consider are.

Joshua 1:8

Psalm 1

Psalm 119:105

Matthew 4:4

Obviously, there are so many more, but these will give you the general idea.

As we draw closer to God, our whole focus will turn toward serving Him. We will want to know more about Him, His Word, His will. Who knows, you may even become obsessed with Godly things, but would that really be a bad thing?

As you set your goals for 2026 and beyond be sure to seek God’s will for your life. There is no better way to succeed than by being obedient to God and allowing your goals to revolve around His plan for your life.  Make Him your focus in 2026, and beyond.

Thank you for reading this, as always, I would encourage you to spend time in His Word, in prayer and in the fellowship of other believers.  And if you haven’t visited already, I would encourage you to come visit our little church on the hill, it’s worth the drive.