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Tag: Strain Toward What Is Ahead

Where Are You Living?

KimsDevotional-112_1One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Philippians 3:13-14, “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.”

Do you have things in your past that you want to forget?  I know I do.  Poor choices, painful circumstances, tragic loss are just a few of things that we all experience that we would rather forget.  But what about the pieces of our pasts that were joyful and brought great pleasure to our lives?  The good ole’ days as some like to call them.  Do you want to forget those?

I find it interesting that Paul says there is one very important thing that he does:  he forgets what is behind and strains toward what is ahead. He forgets or neglects the things of the past and instead he pursues or chases the goal ahead.  For many of us, it’s hard to let go of the past no matter how good or how tough it was.  I know there are events that will always be logged in our memories, but I believe Paul is talking about living in the past.

Where are we living?  God doesn’t want us living in the sorrows OR the joys of yesterday.  We each have a life that is worth living right now.  He has something special for us in this current moment, but many of us are missing it because we are so focused on our pasts.

I have a good friend who says, “I choose what I dwell on.”  She has experienced deep pain in her past and after taking the appropriate steps to work through it, she has allowed herself to heal by choosing not to dwell on it anymore.  She chooses to forget or neglect it and lives in the now.  What an important lesson for all of us to learn.  Both the triumphs and the tragedies of the past are done.  There’s no going back.  We must press on.  There is too much life yet to live and I don’t want to miss any of it!

Where are you living?

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