Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.  -Philippians 3:13-14 NRSV

Most of the time forgetting is mentioned in the Bible, it is a negative thing.  Most of the time, we are reminded of the importance of remembering.  When we come to the end of a year, we are often reminded to remember the past year—our experiences, especially God’s blessings.

There are a lot of good things to remember here at Messiah United Methodist.  There are successes to celebrate but what is most important is God’s presence.  We rejoice that God has been with us as He promised.

Remembering is important.  However our text talks about forgetting as an important spiritual action.  It reminds us that spiritual health, vitality is in moving forward, not finding our joy in the past.  The prize is still ahead of us.  We are never to pull up short of the goal—either the short term goals we may have or, more importantly, the goal God has for us of spiritual maturity and ministry, and ultimately heaven.

2012 is ahead of us.  There will no doubt be joys and sorrows.  Some of our church family will probably not make it to the end of 2012 and it is possible that Jesus will return.

Folks we need to keep pressing on.  We cannot rest on our past blessings.  God has so much more for you, for me, for Messiah United Methodist.

You can always start a new year—with God!

*This post is also in the Messiah Church, January newsletter.

Filed under: The Journey |