Forgetting What Lies Behind... (12-31-13)

Philippians 3:13-14 - "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, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

To put it simply, the instruction being given here is to leave the past behind you. This doesn't mean that we never bring it to mind again, but that we learn the lesson that God has for us at the moment and then, once that thing has past, don't keep reliving it, put it behind you. If you want to live a miserable life try walking forward while always looking back. You're not going to make much progress and it could be painful and uncomfortable. I know this is foolish, but you get the idea. We're not going to make any progress in our walk with the Lord if we're continually looking backward, living in the past. The apostle Paul sets a good example of learning from our past but not living in it. In Philippians chapter three, the same passage as our text, the apostle Paul begins by recounting his past. He obviously didn't forget it, but he did leave it where it belongs. He says of himself in Philippians 3:5-11 - "Circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." Paul clearly didn't completely forget his past, but he wasn't going to allow his past successes or his past failures to hold him back. Though he remembered his past, he didn't allow it to hold him back. If it was gain to him, he wasn't going to be content to let that high experience be the pinnacle of his life and simply coast through the rest of his life, but he was going to continually press on for something higher. If it was a failure in his life, he wasn't going to allow it to hold him back. He wasn't going to allow his past sin to make him useless. And this is a commendable quality that we would do well to emulate.

Once a thing is done, it makes good sense to drop it. I understand that it can be hard to let go of the past sometimes, but it is profitable for us to do so. Because the cycle of second guessing our past choices and replaying different results in our imagination is never ending. We can constantly ask ourselves the questions 'was that really the best thing? Wouldn't it have been better to do this or that?' And in a tormenting process we can lie awake at night revolving a thousand possibilities in our minds and conjuring up a thousand vague perhapses. 'If I had only done this, perhaps this result would have followed, or that would not.' And since there is never any saying except what might have happened, the labyrinth and the discontent are both endless. So it just makes good sense to follow the apostles instruction "Forgetting what lies behind, press forward." For good or bad, you cannot change the past, so just leave it alone as an accomplished fact.

Both our accomplishments and our failures need to be left behind. In Philippians chapter 3 the apostle Paul talked about all his earthly accomplishments, living according to Jewish Law, born into a good tribe, excelling in their religious system, even to the point of becoming a pharisee of pharisees and a persecutor of the church. But he goes on to say that "whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ." Paul wasn't going to let his past hold him back. He wasn't going to let the fact that he used to persecute the church keep him from being used by God to edify and build up the church. He left his past behind him, and forgetting what lies behind, he pressed on toward the goal for the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. But as well as letting go of our past sin, we also need to make sure that our past successes don't keep us from going further with Christ. Paul said to the church at Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 - "Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more." He was commending them for living lives pleasing to God, but he told them to keep going. I've recognized in my own life that after the Lord has used me in ways I never imagined I begin to coast. The Christian life is a continual uphill journey, and there is no room for coasting. If you're coasting it means you're going downhill. When God uses you it becomes real easy to look back and say, 'wasn't that great when the Lord used me in this way or in that?' And we can get so caught up in that past experience that we become completely useless. We can become satisfied with our past accomplishments and fail to climb higher and look to God to be used in even greater ways. "Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Proverbs 31 is the passage that describes the virtuous woman, and in all of the commendable qualities of this woman, one that always seems to catch my eye is in Proverbs 31:25 where it says of her - "and she smiles at the future." This is an attractive quality for two reasons. First, if she is smiling at the future it means that she is looking ahead of her. She's not stuck in the past or consumed with what might have been. Second, since she is smiling at the future she is not afraid of what it might bring. She recognizes that the future is in Gods hands and understands the principles that the Lord Jesus presents in Matthew chapter six. There is nothing more unattractive in a person than a constant fear of the future. It is the one inspiring element of Christianity that it throws us in boundless hope upon the future. A new and better growth is before us. We are to wake up in the likeness of Christ! Therefore, forgetting what lies behind, let us press forward toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

This is not just a principle that we need to put into practice as we pass from one year into the next, but this is something that we should exercise daily. Did you fail God yesterday? Repent of your sin, ask Him for forgiveness, and then press on. By all means, learn the lesson from your failure, but don't let it hold you back. Was God glorified through your life yesterday? Give Him the glory. Praise Him and thank Him for using you, but don't be content to simply look back at the time that you were useful, present yourself to Him to be used by Him for His glory today. Don't live in the past.

Philippians 3:13-14 - "Forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."