Richard Roberts
Once there was a king who was pestered by a young prince who often led his small army in brief skirmishes against the king’s troops. It became bothersome to the king, so he told his commanding general to capture the prince.
When the prince was brought before the king, the king said, “I’ve had enough. I’m going to have your head cut off!” The headsman was ready to swing his axe when the king said, “I’ll give you one chance to save yourself. If you can carry a full container of wine from the outskirts to the center of the city without spilling the wine, I’ll let you live.” The street the price had to walk was lined with people, one side cheering for him, “You can do it!” the other side yelling, “Spill it! Spill it!”
The prince carried the container to the center of town and didn’t spill a drop. The king said, “You did fine. You will live. But tell me, what were you thinking when you heard the crowd yelling at you?” The prince answered, “I didn’t think about anything except not spilling the wine.”
The prince had remained focused on his goal despite the distractions all around him. And that’s how God wants us to live. The world will try to discourage us from reaching our goal in our Christian walk. But we can do it if we follow the Apostle Paul’s example. He said, I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be … I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven (Philippians 3:12-14 NLT).