|
St. Paul once wrote, "Not that I have already obtained
all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold
of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not
consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on
toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward
in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12-14)
While Paul was not proud of his past sinful life, he is quick to say
that his past failures are not his main concern. Instead he says that
the one thing he does is to forget about the past so that he can move
forward into the future. A man on a trapeze cannot fly upward to a
higher bar unless he is willing to release the bar he is swinging on. He
may have various motives for hanging on – perhaps fear of falling or
satisfaction with where he is – but until he releases the lower bar he
can never obtain the loftier goal.
Satan wants to keep us right where we are until we eventually fall
either from carelessness or from boredom. If we swing on the same bar
long enough, thoughts of past mistakes have an opportunity to fill our
minds until one way or another we are drawn back into our former
spiritual state. That is one reason some people seem locked into an
unsuccessful quest to find emotional healing. Their focus on being
healed prevents them from reaching for the higher level where God is
calling them.
Many
times we hear that we are to "fix" our past mistakes but in reality the
Bible speaks a whole lot more about moving on into the future. In fact,
if it were possible that we could fix all of our past we wouldn’t need
Jesus at all, and the whole point of the Christian religion would be
muted to nothingness.
A
car that is hopelessly stuck in the mud cannot get out simply by
spinning its wheels. Trying harder won’t bring success. However,
grabbing a towrope can free the car from the mud. Jesus came to take our
hand and to lift us up to a new life. Instead of fixing the past he
gives us power to make changes so that we do not continue repeating our
past sins and errors.
For
St. Paul, the emphasis seems not to be on "forgetting what is behind"
but rather, "straining toward what is ahead". We are to concentrate more
on where we are going than on where we have come from. Jesus once said,
"No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service
in the kingdom of God." In other words, the person who constantly looks
back, worrying over the past, will likely continue to mess up in the
present. We are to accept God’s forgiveness and move on.
And
so Paul says, "I press on." To "press on" is to do right actions now. It
is following God’s calling for us now. It is not trying to fix the past
or trying to control the future. It includes forgiveness. Holding
grudges or seeking revenge is just another way of holding on to the
past.
Satan, being the "accuser of the brethren," will always try to hold us
back by bringing up our past. His most captivating use of our past is to
convert it to shame, which is the feeling that we are defective and
therefore incapable of change or of victory. But the Bible says, "Anyone
who trusts in Christ will never be put to shame." (Romans 10:11).
The
good news is that in God’s sight no one is hopelessly trapped in their
past. The sad news is that many people have allowed themselves to be
blinded to God’s plans for their lives. For many people the first step
toward God is to begin attending a relevant Christ-centered church. In
the 36 years that I have been a pastor or a missionary I have seen
hundreds of lives changed by the power of God. And it can happen to
anyone. God is faithful.
Paul Jetter, Upper Valley Community Church |
