Daily Java: I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 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 3:10-14)
There has to be forward movement in Christianity. Nothing that is touched by the hand of God can ever remain static, except in the knowledge of his love and grace. And even that changes, in that it grows and matures.
It begins with the desire to know him, to know the power of his resurrection and fellowship of sharing in his sufferings. It begins with the desire to become like him in death and attain to the resurrection from the dead.
That is a beginning and an ending, both.
It is a beginning because we start at that knowledge of his love and the acceptance of that resurrection as ours.
It is an ending because we attain to it all our lives, striving to become both immersed in it and worthy of it.
But the only way to do all this is to put aside the things that came before, to forget what is behind and strain to what is ahead. The process is like trying your best to finish a race when you are tired, pressing on to the goal.
The only way to do it is to forget what is behind. A Christian cannot dwell on the past, either his successes or his failures.
The successes are gone and new ones need to be made. Over emphasis on past successes provokes both pride, the source of all evil, or malaise, a lack of desire to do more.
We have to keep on keeping on.
As to past sins and failures, the word says For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:11-13).
He does not remember past sins.1 Corinthians 3:11-15 says For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
God takes care of what we have done, good or bad.
Move on from the past. You certainly are not at the future yet, so keep on keeping on.
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