Letting Go off the Past

I couldn’t get the image out of my head. It was a runner—a sprinter, carrying a baton. If you know anything about a race, you don’t look back even when you pass the baton. Why? Because looking back decreases your speed.  Looking back also interrupts your focus.

I loved the Apostle Paul, who, too, uses this similar analogy: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win (1 Corinthians 9:24 NCV). Focus is necessary for our destiny. Determination to win is necessary for our purpose Christ has called us to fulfill. Who would have thought God would have chosen and used a man like Paul?  As a Roman soldier, he brutally persecuted so many Christians. But one day, God literally stopped this man in his tracks. Saul, as he was known then, met God on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).  Paul became a believer after that day, and one of the major leaders of the Early Church. He transferred his drive from a hunter of Christians to a hunter of souls.  Many Christians died at the hands of Paul, but the other apostles accepted him as one of their very own brothers after his conversion, for they believed in the resurrected power of Jesus to forgive all wrong doings.  Now, Paul used his energies to move the gospel through the Roman kingdom.  He never looked back on his past: “If anyone belongs to Christ, there is a new creation. The old things have gone; everything is made new! All this is from God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18 NCV). Paul was a changed man literally overnight. Paul did not have time to allow his past to haunt him, for he was too busy preaching the Good News.  His entire focus was on moving the Gospel and becoming more Christ-like:  “I do not mean I am already as God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal, but I continue trying to reach it and to make it mine.  Christ wants me to do that, which is the reason he made me his. Brothers and sisters, I know that I have not yet reached that goal, but there is one thing I always do. Forgetting the past and straining toward what is head, I keep trying to reach the goal and get the prize for which God called me through Christ to the life above” (Philippians 3:12-14 NCV).

Paul understood what it took to be not only a good athlete but a good athlete who would win the prize. His steps were clear cut. He didn’t doubt the forgiving power of God because he never once looked back at his past. If we are going to become all Christ has created us to be, then, intentions to succeed in the life as a “well equipped” believer must be undoubtedly free from all thoughts of guilt or regret.  Live fully today.  A good athlete must eat the right food to win. Eat healthily and exercise, so that you may use your energies physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to serve God! Make the choice today!

GOD’S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Forget what happened in the past, and do not dwell on events from long ago (Isaiah 43:18).