Press On

I have recently been reading the book "Invictus" by John Carlin, about the leadership of Nelson Mandela and the culmination of his political and personal goals through the rugby World Cup.

Mandela, over his years in prison, learned that there were many distractions on the road to the end of apartheid and peace in South Africa. The violence perpetuated by the white Afrikanners was a large distraction, especially to the black population who wished so desperately to be equal. They saw the pain,struggle, imprisonment, and even death that their brothers and sisters suffered and so they too struck out in anger and retribution, not looking at the distant goal -- acheiving political freedom and power. This caused me to examine the distractions in my own life -- the pain, frusteration, of daily life, looking for work, caring for loved ones. These serve to distract me from the goal of bringing heaven on earth through doing the will of God, and of course the ultimate goal of going to our eternal home to be with our Father. This sounds a lot like Paul, who tells us in Phillipians, to "press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (3:14) I am really thankful God brought this message to me. Reminding me that God is with me, fighting on my behalf, and encouraging me to focus on the end goal.