Where will you be when 2023 ends? We are now more than halfway through the year. Are you closer to your goals than when the year started? Are you moving in the direction you want?
Where we will be at the end of the year depends, not on dumb luck and not even on desire. It depends on direction.
Direction, not desire, determines destination. For example, personal space minimization (sounds better than fat loss, doesn’t it?) is a common goal each January. It’s something we want, but often not something we achieve. If we continue the same direction as before – the same eating and exercise habits – wea different destination. Desire is worthless without actual movement in the desired direction.
We are always moving. In Americus, the earth spins at roughly 893 mph as it hurtles through space at about 67,000 mph. Our bodies are in constant flux as millions of cells die and are replaced. We do not remain the same.
That is true spiritually, too. We are either growing closer to God or drifting away - moving toward heaven or toward hell. And, it’s not which we say we want – not desire – but our actual direction that determines the destination.
Years ago, on a Sunday evening, I was driving east on I-40 across Arkansas. My desire was to go to Memphis where I lived. When I began to see mileage signs for St. Louis, I knew something was wrong. In my sleepiness, I had merged onto I-55 north instead of south. My desire was to go to Memphis, but my direction was taking me elsewhere. I had either give up on my destination or change my direction.
So, back to our earlier question: Where are you going this year? If you continue the direction of the past 6 months, where will that take you? Is that where you really desire to go? Is it where God would direct you to go?
Jesus told 3 parables about everyone’s ultimate destination. At the end of the road, we will each hear one of two pronouncements from God: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance,” or “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire” (Matthew 25:34, 41).
What will determine the difference is not desire, but direction. Surely nobody desires hell! But, no matter how much I want to go to heaven, if I keep drifting toward hell, then hell is where I will end my journey.
It’s important to be a go-getter, but it’s even more important to know what you’re going to get. As we pass the mid mark of the year, let’s examine not only desire, but also direction. If you aren’t headed where you want to go, change direction!
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