Pressing Forward

By R. W. McAlister

    Paul said in Phil. 3:13, “…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before…”
     So, what are you planning on “forgetting” – leaving behind – as you enter the new year? Let me suggest that we should give our cares to God and leave them behind with Him. When we pray, we often take our needs to God and ask His help in dealing with them. Then what do we do? Instead of leaving them with Him, we take them back with us right after we finish praying.
     We need to learn to leave things where they belong. If 2017 really is completed for you, then don’t you think you should learn to leave some things behind completely?
     What are some of the things we need to leave behind? I think we can sum it up by saying anything in our lives that keeps us from fully focusing on the Lord should be left behind. Being a Christian means to always be going forward – “pressing toward the mark” as Paul said (Phil. 3:14).
     Imagine a trapeze artist swinging from one trapeze to another, high above the ground with no net under him. As he reaches out to the next trapeze, what must he do? He must let go of the one he’s on. If he refuses to let go of the trapeze he’s on, will he ever be able to go to the next one? Of course not, and in the same way, we must let go of the old year before we can go purposefully into the new year.
     You have a choice. You can go into the new year, taking everything with you, being dulled to the need of changing some things, or you can go into the new year trying your best to make sure the past is the past and the future is for God.
     As we enter 2018, let us leave behind such things as resentment, worries, and failures, and other things which do us no good.

- R. W. McAlister preaches for the Anna Church of Christ in Anna, IL. He may be contacted through the congregation's website: http://www.annachurchofchrist.com/