Not that I have already obtained it or have
already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which
also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as
having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and
reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize
of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14
As with any new year, we have new opportunities. One thing I really like about the New Year is
that it’s an opportunity to start fresh on things. We tend to look at a New Year as a time to
start to think of things we would like to accomplish. The New Year is a great time to turn the page
on stuff you’d like to get going on and accomplish in the next year. It’s also a great time to turn the page on
some things you should put behind you.
The passage we’re going to look at for the next few days is one of those
perfect passages in looking at what we can accomplish as we enter a new
year.
Five lessons we can learn from
Paul:
1.
We
all have an imperfect past.
None of us can look at our past
and see nothing we aren’t ashamed of. We
all have blemishes and stains that we’d just as soon no one knew about or that
we’d just as soon forget. The apostle
Paul was no different. He had a pretty
ugly past in persecuting the church of Christ, and my guess is that he had
plenty of time to reflect on the shame of that.
Paul was a religious guy even
before he met Christ. He was a Pharisee;
he was an up and coming religious leader who had the trust of the religious
establishment during the early days of the Church. He could quote Scripture, he attended the
synagogue probably every week; he had it going.
All of his religion didn’t keep him from having a past that he didn’t
treasure as time went by.
You might have grown up in church,
you might have been involved in church, you might have been a church leader of
some sort; but just the same, you have an imperfect past. It’s imperfect because of the presence of sin
in your life. It’s imperfect because you have chosen your way over God’s way
many times. And there’s no way to get
away from that fact.
2.
We
don’t have to be a slave to that past.
Paul could have said, “Look. I put
people in prison, and I voted for the death penalty for Christians I arrested.
There is no hope for me, and there is no way I could ever be used by
Christ.” But he insisted here that he
had something worth moving on for.
He could look back on the fact
that Christ redeemed him from his past, and was continually working in
him. He says here that in spite of his
past, he was moving on. How does he say
it? “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what’s
ahead.” He recognized his
past, but he refused to be a slave to it.
Even now as a mature believer he knew there was more.
How many people look at their past
circumstances and decide that it’s just not worth trying anymore? Way too many, that’s for sure. Some might think they’ve got it all together
and don’t need to work on strengthening their relationship with Christ. But if we look to Paul here as our example,
we can see that it’s never too late, and our circumstances don’t need to stand
in the way of our effectiveness for Christ.
Scripture to Claim:
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity.
Amen. 2 Peter 3:18
