I awoke this early this morning anticipating several inches of snow--and a day full of happy sledding, snowman building, snowcream making, and fire building...at least for the kids. I was trying not to think about all the wet floors, wet puppy, and wet clothes...with our old dryer hopefully holding out for several days of active duty. We were ready--lots of the obligatory bread and milk from the grocery store. Not sure why we always have to have those two items--it's not like we plan to eat mild-soaked bread all day--but thankfully we do have a good store of chocolate as well, so we're good.
"Unfortunately" (of course, that all depends on your point of view here), there's just a light dusting of snow. Now, our children will surely be mighty disappointed--and truth be told, I am too...at least a teeny, tiny little bit--but still, I can't hide my relief that we didn't get socked with a heavy snow that would necessitate days and days of mess and muck and make-up days for school over spring break. Sorry to be such a curmudgeon, but there you have it.
But I was just reading Paul's words in Philippians 3: "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil.3:12-14)
I couldn't help but think of how many of us are paralyzed by our past--by our past failures, our past shame, our past guilt...or sometimes even our past successes that we fear we can never again match. And then there's all those past disappointed expectations--we think or hope that we (or someone we love, perhaps) will do or be better tomorrow. But when tomorrow comes...there's nothing but a light dusting of snow and all those expectations are shattered yet again.
That's simply no way to live! No, not with Christ!
For in Him, we are to forget what lies behind and strain toward what lies ahead. Paul tells us to keep pressing forward in Christ. I love something I read recently that said we need to cultivate the discplines of focus, forgetting, and following. The discipline of focusing on that one goal--that "one thing I do"--and that's focusing upon Christ and upon our ultimate destiny of heaven. Focusing upon Him in His Word and seeking to keep our focus fixed upon Him like a laser.
And then cultivating the discipline of forgetting--refusing to allow our minds to dwell upon either past failures or successes. Sure, we choose to remember God's faithfulness to us in the past and rejoice in His goodness, but we refuse to dwell upon our failures. Focus on God and not ourselves. Remember--and rejoice in--God and not ourselves and our mess-ups. The past can paralyze us and rob us of all the joy God has for us in the present.
Forget the past--it's done. "This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!" (Ps.118:24) God's given us today--rejoice and be glad in it...even if there's just a dusting of snow!
And finally the discipline of following. Follow hard after the Lord Jesus. The only way we can follow is to daily--no matter what--delve into His Word. Think of it--we get to listen to whatever the God of the universe has for us today! The Almighty Lord wants to have breakfast with us and feed us from His supernatural supply so we can follow Him and live this day with joy and hope and power. We have the choice today whether or not to eat of His nourishing manna...and if we do, He will sustain and strengthen us as we follow Him through whatever this day brings--snow or no snow. Wet floors and boots and puppies or not.
So Lord, we're ready. Focusing on the goal, forgetting the past, and following hard after You. Bring it on! To God be the glory.
No comments:
Post a Comment