Philippians 3:13
“Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.”
The second half of this sentence is great advise. It has two parts to it, forgetting and reaching forward. All of us know what it’s like to obsess over the past. It can haunt us. It wrecks some. We need to forget.
Part of forgetting needs a plan. There is a gravitational pull which draws our attention back. Pastor Rick call it changing the channel. This means trying to forget it. At times this is difficult. There are some activities which require our attention. Performing logical tasks does this. I’ve heard that first responders do something logical to keep them from getting hijacked by emotion. An example is mentally doing times takes or something else logical. Exercise is another task that can change our focus. Talking to a friend can do so. Later our minds can go back to it. It’s a battle which requires continued effort.
Sometimes our minds keep going back because action on our part is required. An apology might be necessary. It might be restitution. We make a payment or something to make up for the train wreck we’ve caused. Doing so goes a long way to assist in forgetting.
Sometimes the forgetting has to do with insecurity. We don’t like a part of ourselves. Forgetting isn’t quite the right word, more like acceptance. Stop brooding over those things. What might be required are good relationships. We need to be accepted. We need to have friends and a good social circle. Hopefully we had good parents and siblings which fostered a good self image.
What also helps in forgetting is to be right with God. When we come to Him He forgives our sins and adopts us. We get into a church which can gives us those friendships with other believers. This produces those healthy relationships. We have church friends who are seeking Christ. We see them practice today’s challenge to forget what lies behind.
The second part from Paul is reaching forward to what lies ahead. Part of what he is doing is replacing the obsessive draw to our past with a future goal. If I were to guess what was on Paul’s mind was to draft a letter to a different church or how to reach a group in his present vicinity.
What are we to reach for? I don’t have big, impressive ones. I have some car repair goals, some house fixer goals and a few others. Should I? When I was a young christian I had a problem with this. I thought I should be out saving souls or ministering. If I wasn’t and I had spare time, I would feel guilty. My conscience has been quieted since. But not completely.
How are we to spend our time? How does God want us to live? Micah 6:6-8 gives us some idea, “With what shall I come before the Lord, And bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul. He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” My guilty conscience imagines much. That’s what the guesses are. But no. Three answers that are in reason.
To do justly. Don’t be a law breaker or a cheater. Good, got that. To love mercy. That makes sense. God is so merciful. He has forgiven His children much. The amount is innumerable. He wants us to act in kind. That is one of His big values. Jesus reduced all the commandments down to two, To love God and others. To be merciful has an idea that we’ve been shown mercy. Matthew 5:7 is one of the beatitudes, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” It’s a big deal if it made one of these.
The last expectation has two parts. The first is to be humble. This is another big God value. Oddly enough it’s easily missed. It’s not intuitive. We look at the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. They were to be the most knowledgeable. They got it wrong. They were offended that Jesus associated with tax collectors and sinners.
God Himself is humble. When He planned for His Son to enter the world, He came to a insignificant area. He was born to poor parents. He was born while they were traveling, completely un prepared. The audience were poor shepherds. He was raised in an area of poor repute. And so on. This is hard to believe. This is sending a huge message. That He is humble and wants us to be.
God’s humility is a stunning revelation. Really. God is humble. No one would have guessed it. Particularly because He is so great, wise and capable. He shares this message is the humblest of way, by an example of His Son. We can’t miss this. God is humble and He wants us to be.
God’s last request of us is that we walk with Him. I love that. It’s something friends would do. Jesus said in John 15:15, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you.” I feel this. I feel His presence and His guidance. What a privilege.
Thank You, Lord, for this verse. We need to forget what lies behind and press on to what lies ahead