Key Bible Verse: "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go" (Joshua 1:7, NIV). Bonus Reading: Joshua 5:13-6:5

During my junior year at the University of Alabama, I realized I wasn't as focused as I thought I should be. About that time, I memorized [today's Key Bible Verse]. Those words hit me hard. I'd been careful to obey God's laws. But as I repeated those words day after day, I realized two new things:

First, if I did everything God told me to do, I'd be successful. (I don't equate being successful with having a lot of money or being famous, but with living a good life.)

And second, I was struck by the phrase, "Do not turn from it to the right or to the left." I became convinced not only that I was not to go off the path, the command was to not even turn. I realized I was so busy looking left and right that I was missing what was in front of me. I'd been distracted by other things. I needed to turn my focus onto God.

Putting Joshua chapter one into action was hard, but I kept thinking, I want to go for God's definition of success. And I began to change. Up until then, I'd done the things I was supposed to do with three-quarters or half a heart. Now, though, God became the center of my life.

—Shaun Alexander in Touchdown Alexander

My Response: What distraction must I eliminate to follow God single-mindedly?

Thought to Apply: You can't fight hard unless you think you are fighting to win.—THEODORE ROOSEVELT (26th president)

Adapted from Touchdown Alexander (Harvest, 2006) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Give me the resolve and strength, Lord, to take a definite stand for You and consistently live it out.

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