Forget and Press On

Phil 3:13-14
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own.  But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul is probably the godliest man I have ever heard of.  Yet even he was the first to admit that he was "not already perfect" and he hadn't "made it [his] own."  Compared to him, I don't even like to think of how "not perfect" I am.   Still, it encourages me to realize that, at least a little bit, I'm in the same boat with one of God's best saints.

What I especially love about this passage is, however, not Paul's admission of imperfection, but his expression of his goal in life.  Paul says that, day by day, he forgets what is behind him and pushes forward towards what he knows is ahead: the glorious prize of God's upward call.  Man, I want to live like this!

So often I get caught up in what lies behind me.  I know I blew it yesterday by entertaining unloving thoughts towards someone I have no excuse but to love.  I know I screwed up this morning when I was hesitant to serve someone in my family and made that obvious by my reluctant tone.  The sin that lies behind me can be very much a part of my present, not just my past, as long as I let it cloud the horizon of my future.  Instead of looking to the great blessing I have of fulfilling God's will for my day, I might meditate on my past failures until I collapse into despair.  This is not how it should be!  Paul understood this.  For the forgiven, the sins of the past are in the past.  I have the freedom to repent and move on.  No need to wallow in my own failures, or let them chain me back from running the race today.

Once I can leave the past behind me, I get not only a deep feeling of relief, but the glorious hope of something far better that lies ahead.  Once I'm free from the chains of sin, my focus is no longer on what I've escaped from but is now on what I am running towards.  Paul calls it "the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Peter calls it like this: "After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you (1 Peter 5:10)."

The call of God for me is a call to His eternal glory.  Can you imagine anything more amazing?  A wretched sinner, often enslaved to the despair of her own failings, actually has the divinely appointed job of bring God glory forever and ever!  No matter how sinful I am, I must not think that God can't use me.  He chose me because He wants to use me--and not just for little, mediocre service projects from day to day.  God is using me to (somehow) bring Him eternal glory.

If you feel like the sins of the past are holding you back, remember this.  Those sins are behind you.  And the God of love, mercy, and forgiveness will forgive you when you repent of those sins.  And He will use you to bring Him eternal glory, in ways you never thought were possible.

"To Him be the dominion forever and ever.  Amen."