Writers 
STAY FOCUSED ON THE GOAL
Many things compete for our attention, but in order to reach our goals we need to practice staying focused on what is most important. We should keep Jesus first above all else, and next we should focus on what He has calledus to do. Perhaps God has blessed you with five children to raise, and right now you need to focus on them. Later in life, your focus may need to change because you will be in a different season of your life. Proverbs 4:25–27 puts it like this: “Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”
A man called, Dave, recently had a stiff neck and could not turn his head to the right or to the left. I teasingly told him that perhaps God was forcing him to focus on what was in front of him. Focus has become a huge problem for most people these days. Life is filled with distractions from social media, our phones, and our computers— and the demands of daily life have become more complicated than ever. Recently my friend was planning her wedding. Her plans were so much more complicated than the plans most of her family made when they married more than 10 years ago. The cost of a wedding can be very stressful these days unless a couple has the courage to do things in a simple way. I say that having a simple wedding takes courage
because it seems that a variety of people have expectations that can pressure the bride and groom to do things they really don’t want to do. I know of one girl whose cousin expected to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. Because the bride did not ask the cousin to be a bridesmaid, their immediate families did no’t speak to one another for more than a year.
Do you let the pressure of other people’s expectations complicate your life, or do you follow your heart and behave wisely? I believe wisdom would have us simplify as much as we possibly can because we gain the benefit of peace when we do so. When our planning or our activities become so complicated that we no longer have peace or cannot enjoy them, I think it is time to step back and re-evaluate them.
Writing this book on Proverbs has opened my eyes to just how important God considers wisdom to be. The theme of the seven key principles is that can help you stay focused on your goals, distractions are a blockhead to achieving your goals in life. I urge you to choose wisdom above all else. Teach it to your children and model it in your own life so all who know you may learn from your example of walking in wisdom. This way, you leave a Legacy of a life worthy of emulsion
