Philippians 3

I remember this passage well from a time years ago when a lady looked at me and sad she was tired to which I replied that I understood for I was also tired.  She gave me one of those looks like yea right.  I replied that it had been a long hard week and I had put in a lot of hours.  She very pointedly told me she could work that many hours too if she were pressing.  I asked, "What do you mean by pressing?"  She told me, in no uncertain terms, "Pressin' yo bottom on that chair."  Well Paul talks about pressing but not pressing a portion of one's anatomy to a chair.  He encourages the church of Philippi to press on to the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus.  Before we can press on though we must forget the past!  Some of us are weighed down so heavily by our past that we cannot move forward adequately.  Many times in my life I have allowed Satan to beat me up over past mistakes, of which I had already been cleansed, but could not forgive myself.  These mistakes had become a burden which the enemy kept me from pursuing the calling of Christ in my life.  Other times people allow their past accomplishments to keep them from pursuing the goal set before them by God.  I think of one friend in particular whom God had called to life at a young age but my friend would not surrender.  He went out on his own made a mark in the business world and continued to run from God's calling.  It wasn't until later that God got his attention through a tragic accident that he forgot the accomplishments of self and sought out the prize of God. 

After we forget the past, we must then press on reaching forward to what is ahead.  While in high school I played wide receiver for our football team.  One of the things our coach taught us in running our routes for pass plays was not to look back for the ball until the right time.  One of the reasons for this technique was because when we look back it slows us down.  The race we run as a Christian requires that we not allow anything to slow us down from pursuing the directions of God.  We must continue to work at keeping our velocity at a pace to run so as to win the prize of God.  Another reason we are told not to look back is that we could miss the goal.  While running track, I ran the 220 low hurdles race.  In one race I lost my focus and had to choose between hitting a hurdle and going around it.  I chose to run around the hurdle so as not to fall.  Although I crossed the finish line first, I was disqualified because I missed one of the goals.  When we lose our focus and do not finish the race of God's because we took our eyes off of the goal, then we can lose the race and not finish strong as God desires. God's desire is for us to finish the race by glorifying Him in all we do and sharing His Good News with all we meet.  I like Paul's way of thinking when he says, "Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus."  Here is the question for the day, "Have you been taken hold of by Jesus Christ?"  When Jesus gets a hold of us, our passion will be to compete in such a way as to honor Him and finish the race for Him well.  How are you running?