Good Morning
All,
Philippians 3:13; “Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my
own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward
to what lies ahead”
“It
is hard to drive forward if you are always looking backwards.” I have heard that said once in a while. I tend to look in the rearview mirrors quite
frequently. I am not sure why; I look
for things coming up behind, I look at what I just went past. The only thing I know for sure is that if I
look in the rearview mirror too much, I tend to be veering all over and I miss
what there is to see that is ahead of me.
This is what Paul is telling us in our
verse; to look ahead and not behind.
This is a very common theme for Paul.
Paul continually tells his readers, and us, “You are better than that
because you are different”. “Stop going
back to the old sinful ways that Christ has taken you away from.” Essentially, Paul is saying don’t look
back. Stop looking back at what you
were. Stop letting what you were hold
you down. Focus on who you are; a
redeemed child of God. Focus on who you
will be; part of the perfected creation celebrating with Christ when he returns
to conquer the final enemy which is death.
Stop looking back at what you were. Stop looking back on the sins that were
there. Repent and receive God’s mercy to
go forward; to strain forward to the restored creation. If you know of someone who you hurt through
your sin, repent, apologize, rectify if possible, but then move forward. Strain forward to be the redeemed child that
God wants you to be. Stop looking and
going back. Stop longing for the “old
days”; they were only filled with pain and self-destruction.
The devil really wants you to focus on the
past, to focus on what is in the rearview mirror. He wants you to see your failures and he
wants you to think that is where you belong.
Yet God, through Jesus, released us from the past and he gives us
something to focus on and that is the perfect eternal life which we are now a
part of. Because of Jesus’ resurrection,
death has been defeated, it does not own us anymore. Because of Christ, we only have to look
forward to the final redemption when all will bow down before Jesus and we will
live in eternity with him.
So as you go on your journey of life, don’t
look back. Keep focused on what is
ahead. For ahead of us is more and more
of God’s blessings. What is ahead are
the plans that God has to prosper us.
What lies ahead is God’s loving arms.
We sure don’t want to miss this and we don’t want to look away from
this. Our future, our hope is
secured. Keep straining ahead for the
wonderful prize, eternal life. Don’t
look back, there is nothing to see there.
Gracious
Lord, in you we find our destiny. In you
we find our hope for all the blessings which you bestow upon us. Guide us by your mighty hand. Keep us secure in the knowledge of your
saving mercy. Be with those who seem
lost in the past. Send your Spirit to
bring them safely home, in the precious name of Jesus our risen Savior, amen.
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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