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
It is January 29th. The
first month of the New Year is almost over.
New Year’s resolutions have been made and broken, maybe over and over
again by this time. No matter what your
past failures are or how many broken resolutions you may have under the belt,
the good news is that you can still be transformed by God! Regardless of your
season or your status, you can begin today with the benefit of past experience
and the power of purpose.
This Sunday is Super Bowl
Sunday. Any good coach knows that half
time is the time to re-group, re-assess the situation and make a new game plan.
Right now is the beginning of the rest of your life and you
can make it the best part of your life.
Many of the men and women in the Bible who were used by God were called
to their greatest work after they had already been through half of their life
or more. Moses was 80 when God chose him and took him out of the desert.
Apostle Paul was 40
If you will recall, God put Paul into a halftime experience
on the road to Damascus at around age 40. He was building quite a reputation
and had a set course when he was seized by Christ. He was winning from the perspectives of those
around him. But Christ explained to him
that he was losing. Paul viewed his life
from past to present. It was a kind of halftime assessment of his life. He
realized that he had accomplished much but the prize remained before him. In this
halftime assessment, Paul decided to forget the negatives of the past and press
for the future in Christ Jesus. At the
close of his life, Paul was able to say, I have fought
the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is
in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
Judge, will award to me on that day-- and not only to me, but also to all who
have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy
4:7-8
I do not know where you are
in the game. If you are in your twenties, you have probably just received the
opening kickoff and have an exciting half ahead of you. You may be nearing the end of the half. You
are in your mid-thirties to early forties, and something has been telling you
that you cannot keep playing as you have been.
Some of you may even be in the second half, but never really thought of
it that way. Like a good lineman, you
just kept charging ahead. This message may lead you to call time-out, head for
the sidelines, and take stock, for it is never too late to change your game
plan.
We often do not hear
Christ’s direction to an abundant life in the first half because we are too
busy executing our own plan to listen to His. The second half of our lives
should be the best half; it can be, in fact, a personal renaissance.
You played a hard-fought
first half. You may have even been winning. But sooner or later you begin to
wonder, “Is this it? Is this all there is?” The game is won or lost in the second half,
not the first. It is not too late for a game changer; a transformation in
your life.
"You cannot stay where you are and go with God. You cannot continue to do things your way and
accomplish God's purposes in His ways."
Henry Blackaby
