Let us be intentional! That is so easy to say and hard to do.

A few years ago, our family gathered in Tampa for a visit. As good Floridians, we rented a boat and went around to several islands in the area and anchored at Shell Island. We all jumped out and swam around, and several of us went to the shore to collect seashells.

We got distracted. Someone yelled, “The boat!” It had pulled up anchor and was now about 100 yards off shore and moving away from us—with no one on board! We hadn’t really noticed the increase in the wind or the churning of the water. We hadn’t noticed the oncoming storm!

Well, our daughter, Jennifer, saved the day—sort of. The best swimmer of group, she took off and chased down the boat. Victory—no quitting! But when she got to the boat, it did us no good; she had no idea how to start the boat, let alone steer it back to the rest of us. She just began drifting with the boat.

Besides a good family story, it ended well: our son, Patrick, ultimately made it to the boat as well—not as quickly, but the boat and the Journys were saved that day.

But isn’t that like life? We have good intentions of setting a anchors—like getting into a bible study, joining a church, or reaching out to someone who may need an encouraging word—but we get distracted by life. “This week, I need to miss bible study because of a lunch meeting,” or, “Sunday won’t be a good day to go to church because the kids have a sleepover,” or . . . You know what I mean.

Put these abilities to work: throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone may notice your improvement and progress. Keep a close watch on all you do and think. Stay true to what is right and God will bless you and use you to help others.
1 Timothy 4:15–16

Let’s set some anchors today. Be intentional by making a list of the things you should be doing daily and weekly to increase your focus on your walk with Jesus Christ. It does not need to be a long list, but start the list and then work on it. If you do this and “stay true to what is right,” then “God will bless you and use you to help others.”

So today, we are so grateful, Father, that You will protect us from the storms and that You will keep us safe. Help us find the right anchors in our lives, and help us make sure we have them secured well. We thank You for being our Savior.

Have an anchored day.