Raising the Bar
Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.–Philippians 3:13-14
One of my favorite Olympic events is the high jump. It is quite simply a thing of beauty to see the competitors in this event propel their bodies over a bar suspended almost eight feet in the air. It seems so effortless. The goal of each jumper is to jump the highest that they can while obtaining a minimal amount of failures.
In a normal high jump competition, each competitor receives three attempts to clear a height. If the competitor clears that height, he or she must immediately prepare to jump again as the bar is raised to another level. The competition only ends when there is one competitor left and he or she has failed at three attempts. As competitors, we should always be looking to raise the bar. There is no doubt that we will have failure and success in our lives; but no matter what the circumstances, we need to continue to press toward the purpose God has for us. We will never obtain perfection, and we will never become a complete failure. So no matter what happens, we must push forward.
If what you did yesterday is good enough for you today, then you didn’t do enough yesterday!
1. How do you handle success and failure? Do you live on yesterday’s wins and losses?
2. What is the one thing that is holding you down?
3. Have you set your sights on the things above?
Matthew 25:14-29; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Philippians 4:13
Lord please help me to keep an eternal perspective and to realize that in all things, I am more than a conqueror if I don’t quit. Please help me to continually raise the bar in my life that I may glorify You more and more each day. Amen.