Pressing On, Part Two Leave Your Past Behind, Start Straining
Philippians 3:13 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,
The Apostle Paul had undertaken his missionary journeys
across the known lands and had set the world upside down by the time he penned
his letter to the church at
In the previous verse we explored how God has called us for a specific purpose, that our calling will always have higher levels to attain if we are willing and that perfection should not be a prerequisite for pressing on. In the verse which is next, we see Paul reiterate that he has yet to truly take hold of what God has taken hold of him for. This despite the vast accomplishments he had completed up to this point. Remember, he would not live long after this. Verse 13 does however speak to the secret Paul had for pressing on. In direct relation to his statement of pressing on, he reveals the one thing that he does and within this one thing are two imperatives we need to follow in our walk if we also desire to press on in Christ.
The first imperative Paul tells us is that we must "forget what is behind." There are too many Christians crawling to the finish line today. There are far too many who are walking in perpetual bondage, even after Jesus has set them free. Remember what Jesus promised:
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36
Are you free indeed today? We can sing about having the victory on Sunday and then live without any victory on Wednesday. Our lives can be a roller coaster of emotions and disappointments instead of having the calming peace of God rule in our lives. This should not be saints!
Yet what holds us back? What does the enemy use against us to deny us the freedom God intends for us to walk in? The first thing the enemy uses against us is our past and that is exactly what Paul is warning us of here. We can have the tendency to live in our past. We can have the tendency to allow our past to decide our future. That is how the world operates. The world will sell you therapy and pills to help you overcome the demons of your past; to help you survive in the present and maybe eventually think about your future. Christ has a better plan. He takes your past, so that you can live for Him in the present and press on for even greater things in your future! Remember that He wants us to give our past to Him:
