By Nkop Mmekeme
"No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead." Philippians.3:13 (NLT)
Like the saying goes; there is no future in the past. We most often drown ourselves in the oceans of our past, denying ourselves of a more promising future. The problem is always that either we are not able to look away from what we’ve seen or what we are seeing at the present, to what lies ahead of us. So we tend to attach ourselves so much to our present conditions instead of looking at what God has prepared in the future for us.
The experiences of the past however beautiful or ugly are meant to be discarded if we must move forward in life. The fact that you were and still are a champion does not make you a champion tomorrow except you look beyond its glory- the glory of today- and take the future from today by doing what needs to be done to remain at the top. Also, that you failed today does not make you a failure tomorrow. All which is required of you is the courage to look beyond your present failures, and buckle up by doing what is required for success tomorrow.
Apostle Paul, the writer of our scripture on focus, choose not to be dissuaded by his achievements or failures, but to place his mind on a target which was his calling, his assignment, his ministry, his goal in life etc. He never reached a point in his ministry where he felt he has arrived or that he cannot go any further until he could say with all conviction to Timotheus in 2.Tim.4v6, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand." Why would he be bold to say this? See verses 7 and 8: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."
Many of our short comings today can be attributed to our attitude towards the race; the feeling of uncertainty over a future that has been guaranteed or the feeling that one has achieved so much, introduces laxity and causes retrogression. This usually comes as a result of our inability to take our focus off the past, and place it on the target which is every Christian’s place of destiny.
There is a call to every Christian today, to continually loosen themselves from the cords of their past and brace up for a more glorious future ahead.
Prayer:
Like the saying goes; there is no future in the past. We most often drown ourselves in the oceans of our past, denying ourselves of a more promising future. The problem is always that either we are not able to look away from what we’ve seen or what we are seeing at the present, to what lies ahead of us. So we tend to attach ourselves so much to our present conditions instead of looking at what God has prepared in the future for us.
The experiences of the past however beautiful or ugly are meant to be discarded if we must move forward in life. The fact that you were and still are a champion does not make you a champion tomorrow except you look beyond its glory- the glory of today- and take the future from today by doing what needs to be done to remain at the top. Also, that you failed today does not make you a failure tomorrow. All which is required of you is the courage to look beyond your present failures, and buckle up by doing what is required for success tomorrow.
Apostle Paul, the writer of our scripture on focus, choose not to be dissuaded by his achievements or failures, but to place his mind on a target which was his calling, his assignment, his ministry, his goal in life etc. He never reached a point in his ministry where he felt he has arrived or that he cannot go any further until he could say with all conviction to Timotheus in 2.Tim.4v6, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand." Why would he be bold to say this? See verses 7 and 8: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."
Many of our short comings today can be attributed to our attitude towards the race; the feeling of uncertainty over a future that has been guaranteed or the feeling that one has achieved so much, introduces laxity and causes retrogression. This usually comes as a result of our inability to take our focus off the past, and place it on the target which is every Christian’s place of destiny.
There is a call to every Christian today, to continually loosen themselves from the cords of their past and brace up for a more glorious future ahead.
Prayer:
Father, help me to let go of my past: all the disappointments, the heartbreaks, the failures, the broken vows & promises, the mistakes. I thank you for the availability of the blood of your Son, Jesus Christ, that washes me white as snow. Much more beyond my sins, I need you to make me whole. Heal me completely by the power of your Holy Spirit. Save me from what is behind and endow me with the strength today to depend on you that I may be able to focus on what is ahead, that I may be able to run my course from this day henceforth without fault; in Jesus Christ Name. Amen.
Further Study: 2.Kings.7:3-15
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