Starting Right
Starting Right is a 5 minute Day Starter to help keep you motivated, encouraged, and focused throughout your day. DannyMac is a pastor, teacher, motivational speaker, husband, and father. His years of leading and training people have given him vast experience in helping individuals to accomplish change in their lives and meet their goals. He can help you set the course for your day by offering practical advice from God's Word in a positive and fun way. There is no better way to begin your day than by Starting Right with DannyMac.
Starting Right
Run Forward, Not Backward
What happens when we can't stop looking backward? The historic showdown between Roger Bannister and John Landy—the first two men to break the four-minute mile—provides a powerful metaphor for life and faith. Landy's fateful glance over his shoulder cost him the victory and gave us a timeless reminder: "If I hadn't looked back, I would have won."
Your next victory might depend on where you fix your gaze.
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right with Danny Mac. I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great five-minute start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back, relax and let me help you start your day right. For many years, it was a widely held belief that no man could possibly run a mile in under four minutes. That was until May of 1954, when Roger Bannister became the first person to actually ever do that. But a month later after he did it Australian John Landy he took another 1.4 seconds off of Bannister's record, as he also ran the mile in under four minutes. Once these two men had accomplished this feat, a showdown was inevitable, and in August of that year the two men met in Vancouver, canada. The race began and these two gentlemen soon were at the lead, leaving the rest of the pack far behind. Landy broke out into the lead and seemed to be holding it. It looked for sure that he was going to win. As they got close to the finish line, landy could not resist the urge to look and see how close Bannister was behind him, and as he looked over his shoulder he lost his stride and Bannister took the lead and won the race. Afterwards, landy said if I hadn't looked back, I would have won. Isn't that a great thought? If I hadn't looked back, I would have won.
Speaker 1:How much time do we spend looking back and it's keeping us from moving forward. There are so many things that we look back at. We want to remember how good it used to be. We want to remember what was. We want to live sometimes in the victories and the joys of the past. But we can't do that. Neither can we look at the past, the mistakes that we made. We can't live in that way. We need to consistently be able to move ahead and not look back if we're ever going to win this race that we have set before us.
Speaker 1:In Luke, chapter 19, verse 62, jesus talked about it in terms of our walk with God. He said why do you keep looking backward to your past and have second thoughts about following me? When you turn back, you are useless to God's kingdom realm. When you turn back, you are useless to God's kingdom realm. Ecclesiastes, chapter 7 and verse 10, it says Don't long for the good old days. That is not wise. We say well, why not? Those memories were good.
Speaker 1:I don't believe that God wants us to forget the good things of the past or forget the lessons we learned in the negative things of the past. But the truth he has for us comes from 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone. A new life has begun. We have moved into this new relationship where God is moving us ahead and leading us in the direction that we are going to go for the rest of our lives. He is opening up new doorways for us. He's opening up new opportunities.
Speaker 1:God has not stopped showing himself to any of us. He's not stopped directing our lives, and his purpose for our lives is never completely fulfilled as long as we are still on this planet. Do you know that God's still got plans for you? Do you believe and know that God still wants to work in you and to use you? Do you know that God's still got plans for you? Do you believe and know that God still wants to work in you and to use you? Do you know that there are still people that you can impact through the love you show them and your ability to be obedient to Christ in your walk with him? God has got plans for you. He doesn't want you to look back and say, oh, I wish it was like it was, or oh, I can't because of what's back there. He wants you to look ahead to experience the fullness that he has for you every moment that you live on this earth.
Speaker 1:I fully believe deep down in my knower. I know in my knower that God is not finished with anyone as long as we're here. I know in my knower that God still wants to work in all of us. I know in my knower that God still wants to work in all of us, that God still wants to lead all of us, that God still wants to give us great joy in the victories we have and we see and the impact we have in people around us.
Speaker 1:There's people around us in whose lives we can make a difference today. Whether it be a simple word of encouragement or a phone call or a card or a letter or an email, or simply just calling them up and say, hey, how you doing. There's people around you that you can make a difference for and in. So today, my friends, let's be people that look ahead, not behind. Let's look ahead at the opportunities that God has for us and not be caught looking back and miss the opportunities that are in front of us. Be blessed, my friends. Have a great day. We will talk again tomorrow. Thank you for listening today and I invite you to join me Monday to Friday, right here on Starting Right with Danny Mac.
