Forgetting the Past – It's On My Mind

Theme for this week: “Moving On”

December 27, 2021 (Monday)

Bible verses Philippians 3:12-14 (NKJV) form the basis for this week’s blogs. “Not that I .. am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 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.”

Based on these verses, I am giving this blog the title, “Forgetting the Past.” That seems like an appropriate way to think as we come to the close of another year (or, as some fellow said recently, “another trip around the sun”).

Paul is in prison as he writes these words. He will be released and spend a few more years on the mission field, sharing with his world the good news of salvation through Christ. He is in his sixties as he writes these words, “forgetting those thing which are behind..” Recent years may seem forgettable to many of us, but do we want to forget everything about our past? When we talk like this at the end of the year, we are talking about the year 2021. When Paul, in prison, was thinking about the past, he may have thought about how, many years before, he persecuted Christians before he was saved. But he also remembered tremendous success in spreading the gospel and starting churches.

He is not, therefore, majoring on his failures but thankful for his successes. He gave Christ all the glory for all the good he had accomplished as the first Christian missionary. But perhaps he was saying that he would not get depressed because he had sinned, nor would he fill up with pride because of his accomplishments. He would just learn from the past and leave it behind as he moves on to the next opportunity of preaching the word and leading people to Christ.

You may be glad to see 2021 go, putting yourself down because you remember failing the Lord, or, like Paul, you may look back with joy over accomplishments in the work of the kingdom of God. Whatever you may be thinking about 2021, it’s time to let it go and get a new start. Welcome, 2022. You offer us a clean slate and new opportunities of witness and Christian service. We thank the Lord for this.

LET GO

Let go. Let go. Let Jesus take hold of your life
Let go. Let go. Let Jesus take hold of your life
I know that it’s hard for you to understand
But he can do more with your life than you can
Let go let go Let Jesus take hold of your life

Are you trying to be good, trying to live like you should
Deep down in your heart you know you are lost.
Humble yourself today And throw your pride away
And remember the price Jesus paid Upon the Cross.

There was a man named Paul, with religion he had it all
But the moment he met the lord he threw it away
He learned how to let go and the let the power of Jesus flow
That’s the secret of how to live the Christian way