My dog, Archie, and I were returning home from our walk one morning and, as usual, Archie was pulling on his leash trying to get out ahead of me. Suddenly, without any warning, he took a detour from the pathway as if being pulled by an unseen force. Actually, it really was an unseen force… he had caught the scent of something in the air and was running in all directions trying to find the source. He was pulling on the leash, yanking me in one direction and then another. I let him have about 30 seconds to investigate but then I said to him, “You’re just gonna have to forget about that” as I jerked him back onto the path and pulled him away from the distraction. Within a minute, he had forgotten about the scent and was back to leading the way on our journey home.
The words I spoke to Archie were echoing in my ears… “You’re just gonna have to forget about that.” Sometimes God has to tell you and me the same thing. We get distracted on our pathway and get sidetracked by things that are either “none of our business” or are cleverly devised detours that the devil has set up to keep us from our destiny. There are even times that I’ve seen things in the morning news that stir up anger and frustration within me. I get distracted from my pathway (just like Archie) and God has to pull me back to my destiny and purpose with the words, “You’re just gonna have to forget about that!”
Not everything you see, smell, feel and experience are healthy to your spiritual and mental well-being. Distractions and detours are everywhere. You can’t get to the place God wants you to go if you’re continually getting pulled away from His path. It is a wise person who can learn to say to himself, “You’re just gonna have to forget about that!”
Philippians 3:13-14 (NAS)
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
