What are your goals?

One day, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes lost his train ticket. As he searched for it, obviously irritated, the conductor said, “It’s okay, Your Honour; just mail it in. We all know you and trust you.” Holmes replied, “I’m not concerned about finding my ticket—I just want to know where I’m going!” Having goals lets you know where you’re going in life. Fifty percent of the people around you have no idea where they’re going. Another 40 percent will go in any direction they’re led. The remaining 10 percent know where they’d like to go—but fewer than half of them are prepared to pay the price to get there. What enabled Jesus to endure the shame of the cross was His vision of the resurrection and a church that would one day change the world (Hebrews 12:2). Moses relinquished the comforts of Pharaoh’s palace because he envisioned the Promised Land (Hebrews 11:24-27). Store owner J.C. Penney said, “Give me a stock clerk with a goal, and I’ll give you someone who will make history. On the other hand, give me someone without a goal, and I’ll give you a stock clerk.” The truth is, while you are working on your goals, your goals are working on you. And the reward you get for reaching them isn’t nearly as important as what you become in pursuit of them. So do you have goals? Are they clear enough to write down, short enough to fit into a paragraph, strong enough to help you persevere, and valuable enough to make you pay the price? If so, you’ll live to see them fulfilled.