Pressing on

 Pressing On

 

I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

PHILIPPIANS 3.13-14

The one thing I ask of the LORD — the thing I seek most — is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.

PSALM 27.4

 

God has given us the gift of memory, and it is one of those gifts we can use in a way that hurts us or in a way that helps us. Memories of our successes can fill us with sinful pride or with gratitude for God’s provision and help. Memories of sins and failures can burden us with hopelessness or prompt us to become more like God. As we look back over the past year, we should give thanks for our successes and make humble confessions for failures. Then we turn toward the future.

As Paul looked toward the future, he was determined to “press on.” What would it look like to press on as you enter another year? The kind of straining forward Paul writes about means implementing the self-discipline and self-denial of a serious athlete. It means making plans and setting goals for yourself in the areas of worshiping, studying God’s Word, developing your prayer life, and sharing Christ, so that by next year at this time you will be closer to Jesus.

Today is a good day to look back, look forward, and look inward. We want to see ourselves and our lives as Christ sees us and be willing to face hard truths. But more important than looking inward is looking upward to Christ. Looking at Christ gives us a goal to pursue, a person to enjoy, a passion to feed. Looking to Christ orients the direction of the coming year — and of our entire lives.