Forgetting the Past and Pressing On

 

Philippians 3:4 -14

Isaiah 43: 16-21

 The apostle Paul in our Philippians passage tells how he had it all – had done all that was expected of him as a good Jew. He tells how he put this all behind him when he became a Christian. He called seeking after righteousness in the way of following the laws all rubbish since he has received the grace of righteousness that comes through faith in Christ.

 The verse which really strikes me is verse 13 where he says, “forgetting what lies behind and pressing on – straining forward – putting our focus on what lies ahead. So many of us are ashamed of things we’ve done in the past but in Christ we can put the past behind us and focus on the new life which Christ gives.

 In our Isaiah passage, the Israelites are in captivity in another nation. They find themselves as Isaiah describes it as a desert in the wilderness. Their spiritual lives are dry, and they feel stuck in their captivity. They are stuck also in their longing for the past when they were in their own country. They remembered when the sea had parted for them and watched the Egyptians chasing after them brought down as the waters engulphed them. But they are no longer in the “promised land.” Yet God says through Isaiah to forget the past – that God will do a new thing. Don’t you see it’s already happening? Don’t you perceive it? God will provide a path through the wilderness of their lives – rivers of water in the dryness of their lives bringing life to new dreams. They will again sing God’s praise.

 Many think this is a prophecy of the coming of Christ who will bring a new way of life. One of forgiveness through his death on the cross – a path of righteousness in God’s sight by having faith in Christ. With it, the power to press on. We need, like Paul and Isaiah say to forget about the past and press on to the new future God has for us. Amen

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