Meditation

Hi there,

Just in case you thought Paul was close to spiritual perfection, here he assures us that he is not! But spiritual perfection isn’t the point, is it?

The “goal” that we strive for is in God’s hands. Our job is to “press on” towards it (verse 12).

When we fail (even daily!) in our Christian walk, or when we think about how we have sinned in the past, it’s easy for us to get discouraged and be full of despair. Paul encourages us here to forget what is behind and strive toward what is ahead.

Paul used to persecute the followers of Christ, so he certainly has a lot to put behind him. And even long after he has been saved, he still calls himself the “chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). But he doesn’t dwell on this, and as believers, neither should we.

Sometimes I take index cards or small pieces of paper and post Bible verses or reminders where I can see them easily, like on a bathroom mirror or a kitchen cabinet. Today’s passage has one of my favorites:

“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (verse 14, ESV)

We’re all at different stages of our Christian walk. None of us will reach perfection until the time that God calls us home. While on this earth, it’s our job to simply “live up to what we have already attained.”

Today’s text is Philippians 3:12-16

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Following Paul’s Example

15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.

16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Encouragement

²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
​³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
​³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.

​
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

​
​ Isaiah 40:29–31

Rebekah

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