Movin' Right Along
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:13-14 (New Living Translation, NLT)
Paul made a conscious decision to forget the past and look to the future. He did not linger on past mistakes or even past successes. He had an assignment from God and he knew that getting bogged down in memories of the past would only slow him down. And Paul had more reason than most to look back and regret things he had done- he had been responsible for the murder of Christians.
If Paul can forget the past and focus on what God had ahead of him, so can we. We must move on from the past and stop allowing the devil to draw our minds back to former things. Even good memories can become a hindrance if we fail to move on from them. It is not possible to live in the past- time only moves in one direction, and we have to move with it.
The other day I was in a medical office and they were playing 70’s music. Personally, I don’t listen to any music except Christian music because I am cautious about what I allow to get in my heart through my eyes and ears. However, I heard the music playing and I heard a song that was popular when I was young: “Don’t Stop Thinkin’ About Tomorrow” by Fleetwood Mac. God will use anything to speak to us, and He used the lyrics that day to remind me to keep looking ahead. The lyrics said, “Don’t stop thinkin’ about tomorrow. Don’t stop- it’ll soon be here. It’ll be here, better than before. Yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone.” And the refrain said” Oooh, Don’t you look back.” Now, that’s a message God’s speaking loud and clear!
There’s a saying that says you can’t drive while looking in the rearview mirror. That’s so true! We have to look ahead and look ahead with expectation and hope. God expects us to be movin’ right long from the things in the past to a new, bright future in Him.
