Saturday morning, I left my house at 6:30 am to ride 60 miles on a bicycle. Each year around my birthday, I ride one mile for each year of my life. Accomplishing this goal takes months of training, and doing so becomes increasingly more difficult each year.
On the same day, the Tour de France began - one of the greatest cycling races in the world, with 21 stages over 23 days, averaging 2,200 miles (3500 kilometers). I love watching these elite athletes and their world class skills.
My ride was a metaphor for my life. I want to get to the end of my life and finish well. As I rode mile after mile, I reflected deeply on the words of the apostle Paul who said:
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” 2 Timothy 4:7
At the forty-mile mark, my legs began to cramp, and mental fatigue started to overcome me. At that critical moment, however, three riders rode by me and shouted, “Join us!” I fell into the slipstream and for ten miles, those new relationships helped me along the journey. At mile fifty, they departed. For the last ten miles, it was just me, a goal, and a prayer that God would give me the strength to finish.
Goals are God’s tools to help guide our lives by measurable increments. I set goals in every area of my life: family, work, financial, health, and personal growth. Each goal is part of the larger process to one day be able to say with the apostle Paul, “I have finished the race.”
What goals do you have for your life? What goals do you need to set?
Write me or post a comment below, and let’s have a conversation about the importance of goals. I dared to ask God to help me ride sixty miles. It took more than four hours, and my speed was just fifteen miles per hour, but I finished the race.
Dare to Ask God for goals for your life,
God’s passion for His people can not be extinguished. Do you embody this same passion?