We all have a lot of goals and aspirations in life, but seeing them everyday reminds us to continue to reach for them in our everyday tasks. {an indulgence a day, p. 57}It's true. What we keep our sights on day-to-day determines what we will accomplish later.
However, Andrea and Patrick didn't come up with the "by beholding we become changed" concept.
My sister-in-law was telling me about an entire book written based on this basic concept. It's called The 4:8 Principle. That's the title of the book, and a catchy reference to the concept, too. The nutshell version goes something like this...
Whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. {Philippians 4:8}Okay, so Andrea and Patrick suggested a slightly different focus suggesting including images in the goal board that point toward an "ultimate job" or a "dream home."
Of course those are positive things to aim for. But there's another text that inspired me to think a little more long-term for this indulgence...
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ. {Philippians 3:14}I'm here (in this home or state or country or even on this planet) for a bigger purpose than achieving the American dream, or even a non-American dream for that matter. This "bigger purpose" is called living for Christ. And I'm not always so successful at remembering that Goal.
For instance, when I originally saw this indulgence, I got excited (yes, excited; I'm a nerd) about it, imagining putting together images of vacations, homes, and cars to keep Daniel and I focused on our goal of becoming debt free. It's not a terrible idea. Then, I regained focus...
Enemies of the cross set their mind on earthly things. {Philippians 3:18-19}Every one of those images I imagined putting on a goal board would be of my earthly home, an earthly vacation and earthly transportation. Are any of those things bad? Not by themselves. But these weren't, aren't, my goal. Yes, I want to be, and am striving to be, debt free! Daniel and I dream of one day buying a house and taking our family on vacation and purchasing a car with consistently working a/c. But none of those things are my purpose for being here. And if those are the things I fall into focusing on... well, I lose focus on what really matters.
Which is God, and meeting Him in Heaven.
He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. ... And they shall reign forever and ever. {Revelation 21:7, 22:5}Yay for regained focus!
But what about the goal board?
I implemented this inspiration into my newly discovered interest in Pinterest. Goal boards are so easy to make! And save! And share! And reference! Okay, the nerd in me is in love with these virtual goal boards. I have ideas for my new "obsession" with fabric flowers collected here and my home style trays will soon (slowly) be transferred here and ideas for parties will be saved here and my top dining stool picks are referenced here.
And images that remind me of The Prize inspire me here.
It's slow coming. I'm not positive where to find inspiring images that make me think of Heaven. When I first began, I was tempted to Google "Heaven" with the assumption that everything can be found on the Web. Well, I guess not everything.
So what happens when we are aspiring for what we can only see dimly? {1 Corinthians 13:12}
We think outside the box.
Like this image, that while seemingly unrelated to anything, actually makes me think of a time I prayed for a band-aid and God answered my prayer very specifically and rather unusually and helped me to experience firsthand Psalm 18:16, 19.
Or this image I took outside a Farmer's Market that, thanks to a comment from a friend, now makes me think of the Second Coming.
Or this image that another friend took that makes me think of my favorite hymn, This is My Father's World.
Okay, so you get the idea. The possibilities for a Spiritual Goal Board are infinite. Spiritually-inspiring images are found in nature or the God-given creativity of His children or mementos that call to mind personal experiences with God. It's yours to create.
I've started creating mine and look forward to continue indulging in this positive inspiration!!
Who doesn't need a little imagery of Heaven sprinkled into the everyday?
