It’s important to realize that focus is not just about having goals it’s about hearing from God and moving in the right direction. Goals are not the end but the means to get to the end. If you’re heading in the wrong direction then your goals are meaningless. You have to be going in the right direction for your goals to have purpose.
On January 1, 1929, California faced Georgia Tech at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Midway through the second quarter, Roy Riegels, a Cal lineman, picked up a fumble by Tech’s Jack “Stumpy” Thomason. Just 30 yards away from the Yellow Jackets’ end zone, Riegels was somehow turned around and ran 65 yards in the wrong direction. Teammate and quarterback Benny Lom chased Riegels, screaming at him to stop. Known for his speed, Lom finally caught up with Riegels at California’s 3-yard line and tried to turn him around, but he was immediately hit by a wave of Tech players and tackled back to the 1-yard line. The Bears chose to punt rather than risk a play so close to their own end zone, but Tech’s Vance Maree blocked Lom’s punt and Georgia Tech scored a safety. That was all it took for Georgia Tech to beat California 8-7. And Roy Riegels would forever be remembered as “Wrong Way Roy.”
Riegels was passionate. He was running hard. He was determined. He wasn’t slacking. And he was also dead wrong! There is a way that seems right to man but the end leads to destruction. Goals are not enough. We must have purpose. That’s where focus comes in.
Focus begins with the end in mind. In academics they call this Backward Design. Spiritually speaking, Backward Design means to begin with the image of the end of your life as the frame of reference by which everything else is measured.
I think this is what the writer of Hebrews is getting at when he says, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross…” The word “looking” comes from two Greek words meaning to look away from something near and to focus on something more distant. It’s a looking away from what is momentary or immediate to gain a sharper focus on what is further away and more permanent.
Jesus did this when tempted by the devil in Luke 4. He had the cross in mind even at the beginning of his journey. He kept his purpose in perspective and never swayed from it.
This is where we must start to gain the right focus in our lives. We must begin with the end in mind.