Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14 CSB)
A friend and mentor once reminded me that when you’re driving, there is a reason why your front windshield is bigger than your rearview mirror. It’s not that the ability to look back and see what’s behind you doesn’t matter. But what is more important is looking forward and seeing what is ahead. Your eyes need to be primarily focused on what’s in front of you, rather than what’s behind.
For the Apostle Paul, he had a single-minded pursuit. His goal was to know Jesus Christ and to become like Him more and more. He knew he wasn’t there yet. I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it, he wrote. But this is what he was striving for each and every day.
To reach that goal, Paul knew where his focus needed to be: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead.
The word forgetting doesn’t mean to wipe out the memories of the past. Instead, it means to not bring them to mind. Paul’s strategy in his pursuit to know Christ was to not dwell on or live in the past, but rather to make a break from it all.
In his case, his religious achievements, his accomplishments and successes in ministry, his suffering, his missed opportunities, and his sin were not things that he wanted to spend his time thinking about anymore. Those things, as significant and important as they were, were now behind him. They were in the rearview mirror. What mattered most was the road in front of him, and where God wanted to take him next in his journey of knowing and serving Jesus Christ more and more.
The same is true for you and me. God has some incredible things in store for each of us. He wants to take us to deeper levels in our relationship with Him. He wants to grow us in our knowledge of Christ and transform us more and more into His image. He wants to increase our passion and desire to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness above everything else. He wants to use us as agents of transformation in the lives of those we serve.
The invitation then is to fix your eyes on Jesus. Keeping looking forward to all that He has for you. Strive to know Him more and more. Invite Him to take you to deeper levels in your faith and to use you in greater ways. The road may not be easy. But regardless of what comes, God will always be faithful to all that He is and all that He says.
