Devotional Thoughts: staying on track

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.

Humbling. Challenging. Exciting.

Those are the three emotions I get reading this passage.

Humbling in that Paul, the great missionary that took the Gospel to so many places and planted so many churches and wrote the letters that comprise much of the Christian Scriptures, recognized he still had a long way to go in following Jesus!

As a side note, I wonder if Paul knew that the letters he wrote would become a major part of the Bible?

Having grown up Jewish, he knew the Hebrew Scriptures well. Did he realize that this letter he was sending to Philippi would one day be bound together with those Hebrew texts?

I feel challenged by this passage from Paul because it is hard to forget what is behind.

As a pretty typical human being, I am influenced by my past.

As a Christian, I need to leave behind the bad stuff. I need to forget the bad habits and live differently. I need to let go of the guilt of past sins which Christ on the Cross paid for. But I also need to "forget" the good things too. Not in the sense of forgeting and thus not being grateful but "forget" in the sense of not resting on past successes. Rather I need to focus on the present moment and push ahead to greater devotion to Christ.

Isn't it exciting to press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus?

We live in the here and now and God has many blessings for us to enjoy and opportunities to experience satisfaction in serving Him and others. Yet, we also look ahead to being with Jesus in the future. The kingdom of God is here in part so we know it in part and see it as through a glass darkly and we can look ahead with anticipation that in the future we will experience it in full.

All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Maturity is equated with taking such a view of things.

Thus, maturity as a Christian is about focus (on Christ) and perspective (on past, present and future).

Today's passage was Philippians 3:12-16. For a potent paraphrase of this, check it out from the Message. Excerpt:

I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward - to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.

Lord, help me to focus on Jesus and let nothing distract me from that! Help me to live strong in the here and now and be inspired by the future glory when the going gets tough. Please hear this prayer of your follower! In Jesus name, amen!