New Beginnings (Part 3)
Philippians 3:13
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
If you’ve kept up with the Olympics through the years, you might have heard of Bonnie Blair. She is a gold and bronze medal winner in speed skating at the Winter Olympics.
But success has not always followed her. She started out as a young child learning to ice skate and quickly emerged as a young rising talented star. When she was a young teenager she received an invitation to compete in her first international competition. But misfortune overtook her. Due to poverty in her family, she was forced to decline the event and the invitation. However, she would not be through with skating. Unknown to her, a friend of the family began raising money to help her and through the gracious gifts of those friends, she was able to participate in her first international competition. It was in 1984 that she competed in her first Olympics. Though she came in hopeful, she left most disappointed not winning a single medal.
Still though, she stayed at it! She worked hard, competed, trained and prepared herself for the competition; and by the time she reached the next Olympics she had won her first medal, a bronze in the 500 meter event. Over the next two Olympics she would win a total of 5 gold medals making her at that time the first woman to win 6 medals in the Olympics. And now she has received numerous awards, most notably the induction to the Olympic Hall of Fame.
Now think about that. It all almost failed because of the lack of money and a few early losses. What kept her competing when defeat and difficulty came her way? She made this fascinating statement,
“Winning doesn’t always mean being first. Winning means doing better than you have ever done before.”
The journey to “press on” has a major obstacle, one we must all face. It is our past. We must be determined to press on and push forward. But we must also decide to give up looking back.
You may remember that Philippians 3:12 - 14 likens the Christian life to a race. We are to reach forward, to press on, to attain the prize, to press toward the goal. But for some, the hurdle of the past keeps tripping us up. We let things like shame and guilt rule our thinking and govern our emotions. We let past sins haunt us, even though we have confessed it before Jesus.
In Philippians 3:13, the Bible says,
“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead.”
The phrase “one thing” is intriguing. How can we ever “reach forward to what lies ahead” when we are holding on to what lies behind? Maybe your journey is like mine - full of sin, mistakes, and regrets. Let’s put the past behind us by confessing our sin and enjoying the blessing of God’s forgiveness (I John 1:9). Maybe your journey has some failures, some places you came up short and some things about which you wish you could apply “undo.” Leave it behind. Maybe your journey has seen glory days, and while they are a blessing, they also keep you from believing God has something greater still ahead. Let’s remember the glory days with gratitude, but put them behind us for God’s greater work TODAY. There are enough challenges ahead to keep us focused; it’s time to “forget what lies behind.”
Put away bitterness, envy, hurt, discouragement and loss. After the celebration, put away yesterday’s victory. God intends us to be free from those things that haunt or hinder us.
Today, let’s allow ONWARD to be our theme.
Scriptures for the journey: I Corinthians 9:24 – 27, Hebrews 12:1 – 3, Hebrews 12: 12 - 17