Forward Hoooooo!!!

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, 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. - Phillipians 3:12-14 (NIV)

Our pastor at Van Dyke Church, Matthew Hartsfield, gave a great sermon illustration this past Sunday.  He credited it to another pastor whose name now escapes me, but it was a brilliant illustration that I wanted to share with you today.  It went something like this...

God made the human body with the intention that our movement would be forward.  Our eyes are focused to the front. So is our nose.  Our arms work best when we are reaching forward. Our legs have more strength when moving forward or kicking to the front. Our toes point forward.  There is only one part of us that points backwards.  It seems that even as God was designing the human body, he knew there was some crap that would need to be left behind...

Although he used different words, the Apostle Paul said basically the same thing to the church in Philippi 2000 years ago.  Forget what is behind you and press forward.  In the old, seldom seen movie Gumball Rally, there is a classic line where one of the drivers rips off his rear view mirror and says, "That is the first rule of Italian driving- what's behind me is not important!"  We all have memories we love and treasure and baggage that we find difficult to let go, but as the great philosopher Pumbaa once said, "You have to put your behind in the past!"  We have to keep pressing on.

Far too many of us- myself included- tend to get caught up in the failures of our past.  We give lip service to God's grace and forgiveness in our lives, but we don't REALLY believe it.  You see, the opposite of forward thinking and pressing on is not remembering. There is nothing wrong with remembering.  The opposite of forward thinking is backwards thinking.  And that will get us into trouble every time. Backwards thinking attempts to strip God of his power, and makes the work of Jesus on the cross look like a fool's errand. Think about it. Is it ever a compliment to say someone or something is backwards?  No...

I do indeed have "crap" I need to leave behind, even as I keep my eyes focused FORWARD on the prize that is abundant life in Jesus Christ.  My guess is you do too.  If Paul could write that he had not achieved his goal, then it is safe to say we haven't either.  So we keep pressing on.  God loves us. Too much, in fact, to leave us the way we are. Let's start fresh from right now- Forward Hoooooo!!!

Because of Jesus,