FORGETTING AND REACHING!

 

Sunday, December 31, 2023

 

FORGETTING AND REACHING!

 

Phil 3:13-14

13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

 

          Paul was probably referring to his past attachment to strict Judaism. He had given it all he had but when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was empty and frustrated. He had been ignoring the promptings of the Holy Spirit and was pursuing a painful goal that would leave him even more miserable.

 

          We borrow from his language to suit our purposes. On this last day of a difficult year, we are eager to forget those things that are past. The pain of some of those things lingers and we anxiously wait for that pain to subside. We’d like to be rid of it along with the year.

 

          The word “apprehended” is best understood by thinking of a police officer chasing a criminal. With lights flashing and tires smoking, the goal is just out of reach. We long to be done with the chase and to “cuff and stuff” our prey. Until then the chase continues.

 

          But our goal is to firmly grasp Christ in all that that means. Paul helps us when he describes his desire in verse 10.” That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.” Phil 3:10

 

Dear Lord, in the year just ahead of us, let us forget the past, honor you in the present, and trust you for the future. AMEN