What is one goal you’ve reached that you feel particularly proud of? Is it graduating from school? Running a marathon? Teaching your children good morals? Bringing a friend or family member to Christ?

Now, what did it take for you to reach that goal?

Columbus set the goal of sailing around the world. Every day of his voyage, he penned these words in his diary: “And this day we sailed on.” Columbus achieved incredible results because he continued the pursuit of his goal day after day. In the same way, if we want to reach any goal, we need perseverance and faithfulness. How well we start doesn’t really matter. In any goal we set out to achieve, we need to persevere until the end.

Would you like to know a couple of secrets about living successfully? Then read with me a verse from Genesis which contains two great secrets of success in any sphere of life: “And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.” Do you see in these words the two great principles of success in life? “And they went forth to go into the land of Canaan.” The first secret to succeeding in life is this: We must set out to achieve noble goals, goals worthy of our effort as people who will dwell eternally in Jesus Christ’s presence. Second, we must keep going. Abram and his family made it to Canaan because they persevered. They traveled toward Canaan day in and day out until they arrived. If we expect to lead successful lives, we can’t give up after we’ve set out to achieve a goal. Instead, we must everlastingly keep on keeping on.

If you haven’t already determined some goals for yourself, choose a goal today, a goal worthy of your time and effort. Then set out to meet that goal, persevering today and in the days to come.