Press on to possess

Edmund Burke said, "You can never plan the future by the past." The more we count on the past to define us or our life's path, the harder it will be for us to move forward. Why? The past cannot be relived, and the present is ever-changing. Burke also reminds us, "He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper." Our antagonist is our helper. Could that mean that the 'negative stuff' in our past is actually helping us to grow closer to Christ in our present?

I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 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 3:12-14)

Press on to possess. That really sums it all up. We need to 'press on' if we are ever to 'possess'. Notice - it never says we are to continue to do things the way we have always done them. As I have said before, to do what we have always done will ensure we will always get what we have always gotten. If we are to be vital Christians, we have to be willing to let go of what 'we have always done' and embrace what God may be asking us to do now. Possession requires action. Even a gift is received. 

When a course has been established, we move on within that course. Does the movement forward change what we now have in our rearview mirror? Of course it does, because the stuff behind us is now in our past and we have a new vantage point from which to see that 'stage of the course'. What God may desire from us today is to stop gazing so fondly into that mirror. When I drive, I don't constantly focus on what is in my rearview mirror, but what is right ahead of me. Why? The path before me is what presents the obstacles I must be ever aware of, not the places I have just been. 

Possession is realized when we are able to keep our focus on what is front of us, not what is behind. Press on to possess - make forward movement, let go of the past, dwell upon the present, and learn to trust God to bring you into all he has for you in the present. The present prepares us best for the future. Just sayin!