To finish the race of Christianity, we must run lawfully (2 Timothy 2:5).  If the event that an athlete is competing in is a race, to run lawfully involves staying in his or her lane.  This will be much easier to do if the runner is looking in the right direction.

When a runner keeps looking back to see who is behind him, he is very likely to drift out of his lane and be disqualified.  The best chance the runner has is to look ahead.  This is important in our spiritual race as well.  Our focus must be on what is ahead, not on what is behind (Philippians 3:13).

We must not only avoid looking back, as we focus on the goal ahead of us, we must also keep ourselves from looking from side to side.  A runner who is distracted by, either the other runners in the competition or by something else like the crowd or the conditions of the track, is unlikely to run his best race.  Distractions slow a runner down.

The world is filled with distractions that can slow us down in our race toward heaven.  These distractions can corrupt our hearts through the avenue of sight.  Do you remember the story of Achan?  God gave Israel the city of Jericho, and they did not even have to fight for it.  All they had to do was march around the city for seven days, blow some trumpets and do some shouting at the appointed times, and the city would be theirs.  You can read the story in Joshua 6.

The one restriction God gave them was not to take any of the things that were devoted to destruction.  Achan, however, disobeyed God (Joshua 7:1).  Why would he do such a thing?  After his sin was discovered, he said, “when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them..” (Joshua 7:21).  Achan was distracted by the beauty of what he saw.  His eyes got the best of him.

Achan did not have the discipline to look away, and he was not the last one to lack such discipline.  We all know what happened with David when he saw Bathsheba bathing from the roof of his house (2 Samuel 11:1-27).  His inability, or unwillingness, to look away, led to adultery, murder, and disgrace.

As we race towards heaven, let us not allow ourselves to be distracted by sin.  This often means that we must look away from certain things that our eyes might behold.  Remember, our eyes are a gateway to our minds.  If we fill our minds with sinful things, we will be disqualified from the race.  It is important to fill our minds with the proper things on which to think.

Philippians 4:8 (ESV)
⁸  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

In this world filled with pornographic material, immodest apparel, and inappropriate sights on T.V. and the internet, we must be careful of what we allow ourselves to see.  We can all turn things off or look the other way. Let us use that ability to protect our minds from the sin that surrounds us and avoid drifting out of the moral lanes that God has established by His Word.  Be cautious of where you look.  It will help you stay in the race.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.