Focus Forward

"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." Philippians 3:13-14

"We must beware of the Past, mustn't we? I mean that any fixing of the mind on old evils beyond what is absolutely necessary for repenting our own sins and forgiving those of others is certainly useless and usually bad for us. Notice in Dante that the lost souls are entirely concerned with their past. Not so the saved. This is one of the dangers of being, like you and me, old. There's so much past, now, isn't there? And so little else. But we must try very hard not to keep on endlessly chewing the cud. We must look forward more eagerly to sloughing that old skin off forever -- metaphors getting a bit mixed here, but you know what I mean." Collected Letters of C. S. Lewis, Volume III, p. 1274

Looking back can be dangerous, in sport and in life. Looking back to see if another runner is gaining on you can lose you the race in track. Thinking back to a mistake you made in the first quarter of the basketball game can take you off task in the second half of the game. We must, as Paul says, press toward the goal. (By the way, the photo above is of my son James, pressing heavenward toward the basketball goal!)

C. S. Lewis makes a valuable point. We must beware looking backward in life. We should focus on our past sins only as long as it takes for us to repent of them, just as we should examine our past mistakes in a game of sport only as long as it takes to learn from them. Then we have to get back in the game and head toward the goal once more.

God's goal for us is heaven, not hell. And he has a prize waiting for us there.

"No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him."

1 Corinthians 2:9

Prayer: Father, help me to focus forward today with my eyes on Jesus, my eyes on the prize, by the grace of your Spirit at work within me. Amen.

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Will Vaus

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