The Ability to Forget

The most vital question to ask about all who claim to be Christian is this: Have they a soul thirst for God? Do they long for this? Is there something about them that tells you that they are always waiting for His next manifestation of Himself? Is their life centered on Him? Can they say with Paul that they forget everything in the past? Do they press forward more and more that they might know Him and that the knowledge might increase, until eventually beyond death and the grave they may bask eternally in 'the sunshine of His face?' That I might know him! Martyn Lloyd-Jones

In the past I have watched the Olympics and marathons.  One of the things that stands out is that the majority of runners don’t ever look behind them.  Why is that?  It is because when they turn to look behind them they lose the race.

In the Christian race there are several things we need to learn to forget.  The first is to not look behind us at our past accomplishments.  The most important thing we will ever do in this life is to follow Jesus Christ.  In Philippians Paul talks about his gains being loss for the sake of Christ. He talks about having not arrived at his goal yet but pressing on to take hold of that which Christ took hold of me.  If we forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead we will be in this race our entire lifetime on earth.  The finish line is ahead but we won’t see it here.  That is why he says he presses on toward the goal.  Our goal here on earth shouldn’t be passing the finish line; it should be getting to it.

   

The next thing we need to forget is our past failures.  When Peter was washing his nets and Jesus approached him and told him to go back out and throw out his nets again, Peter responded by telling him he had been fishing all night and came up empty.  Peter was using his past failure at catching fish to determine what he would do in the future.  Remember how Peter caught so many fish that they had to call to another boat to help them bring in the catch.  If we rely on our past failures to determine our next steps, we will fail again. 

The final thing we need to do is to forgive past damages.  Every person on earth has been hurt by someone they care about.  It is an inevitable fact of life that people are going to cause harm, betray us and hurt us.  The other fact is we are going to do the same to others.  Satan loves to have us remember all the pain that others have caused us and he enjoys seeing us cause each other pain.  If we are continually holding on to the damages from the past Satan is celebrating. 

Forget your past mistakes and failures.  You have things to accomplish for God so your past accomplishments are just that, the past.  Strive toward the goal God has set before you.  Take up your cross and follow him. 

   

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of relying on my past accomplishments instead of relying on You.  I have a race to run and if I keep looking back I will never accomplish what You intended.  Give me a soul thirst for You and remind me that I am not in this alone.  There are other racers just like me who are striving for the same goal.  It is not a matter of winning it is a matter of finishing the race.  Help me to help others finish the race.

Scripture: But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.  Philippians 3:7-11

Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven.  And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:17-21