Forgetting

"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.' (Philippians 3:13-14 NKJ)

Charles F. Kettering wrote, “You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.” You won't have a better today without forgiving and forgetting and moving forward.

Each of us carries an incredible amount of baggage. All sorts of issues -- past and present -- envelope us. The marvelous thing is that "God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8 NKJ).

Some of our baggage is selfish and stupid and some people carry more obvious evidence of sin than others, but we are all incredibly human. We almost always miss the irony in this truth. We go on our ways, blind to self but eager to shame others. We want to enjoy a pardon from our own past, but they need the prison of our reminders.

Maybe we should let the past rest, both for us and for them. Wonderful, horrible, or mundane we can’t change the past. It is set forever in our personal histories. Accept that and move forward. Decide to have a better today. Stretch toward the wonders of tomorrow. Step confidently into the unexplored realm of the Holy Spirit. Our goal is the prize for which God has called us. Focus on his calling and run to win the prize. By the grace of God, in Christ, we can all do it!

Dear Father, thank you for covering our past with the blood of Christ's sacrifice. Forgive us our trespasses as forgive those who trespass against us and enable us to forget the past. I pray this in the name of Jesus. AMEN

Forget the past today and press toward the goal,