DON'T LOOK BACK
"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of
God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14
If any of you have competed in running events before, you know that there
is more than just being able to run fast that enables you to win the race.
One very important thing is that a runner must keep his eye on the finish
line. Looking behind him will slow him down.
So it is also with the Christian life. We need to keep our eyes on the
finish line. If we look behind us, we will get slowed down. Looking back is
incredibly dangerous. Jesus even pointed this out when He said, "Remember
Lot's wife?" Lot's wife, despite warnings, had looked back on Sodom and was
turned into a pillar of salt.
One of the ways Christians look back is by looking back at their sinful
lives before they were Christians. Satan tries to trip us up with our
sinful past. Satan tried to convince me once that with all my sins in the
past that I was not worthy enough to go to heaven. But you see, the devil
likes to mix a little truth with his lies. None of us are worthy to enter
heaven. It's Christ's worthiness that matters.
Second Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become
new." Our sinful past is gone. We are new creatures. When we repented and
believed the gospel, God totally wiped out our past sins. He remembers them
no more. If God doesn't remember our past sins, why do we look back on them?
Another way Christians look back is by looking back at our so-called
accomplishments before we got saved. A few years ago I was flipping through
my senior yearbook. During my senior year in high school, I had excelled in
various areas. This yearbook chronicled all those accomplishments. At the
back of the yearbook, several of my friends had written various notes. One
of these notes caught my eye. A young woman had ended her note with the
Bible reference, "Philippians 3:8-9."
At the beginning of Philippians 3, Paul chronicles several of his
accomplishments, but when he gets to verse 8 he says, "...and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord..." In fact, Paul goes on to say that he counted those accomplishments
but dung that he may win Christ.
All the things that I accomplished in high school get me nowhere in my walk
with Christ. I count them but dung so that I might win Christ. If our past
accomplishments have nothing to do with our current walk with Christ, why
do we look back on them?
Christians, forget what lies behind you. The finish line is in front of
you. The prize is waiting. Don't look back.
"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26
