Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching for those things which are before, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
When I was a freshman in high school I used to run track. My favorite running event was the 110 meter hurdles. I recall a particular race I will never forget. I had the fastest time going into the finals of the district track meet. I remember the race so vividly because I had a bad start and I was behind in the race. While I was running, I started over striding to try to catch up to the others who were ahead of me. If you have ever run hurdles, you understand the danger of over striding. My focus was on the others in front of me and not on running my race. In the middle of the race I hit a hurdle and it knocked me off balance and I fell down in the middle of the race. I got up and finished the race after falling. The race scarred me and I never ran track again until my senior year in high school.
As I look back at my experience, I have gathered life is like a track race. Life is full of hurdles that stand in the way of us fulfilling the purpose God has for our life. Often times the hurdles of life cause us to fall, but we have to get up and keep going. We can’t let our past failures hold us captive. Can I ask you question friends? Is there an event or situation from your past you can’t get over? Is the event or situation so tragic you don't want to face it? . . . . You will never be able to fulfill God's purpose for your life holding on to your past. Do you want to fulfill Gods purpose for your life? If you do, there are some things that you have to put into practice.
This verse teaches us an assessment needs to take place on a daily basis. How often do you take an assessment of your life? I know we live in an instant society and there is not much time to slow down. How much time do you have for God? I know that you have a busy schedule and you have a lot of things “going on”. Can you fit God into your busy schedule? We have to learn to slow down so we can get on the same page with God. Are you on the same page with God? In order to answer that question an assessment needs to take place. The assessment needs to be based on God's standard and no one else’s standard. So the assessment tool needs to be the word of God. How often do you look at God's standard for life? What is your attitude towards the word of God? If you want to fulfill God's purpose for your life it starts with seeking God through his word on a daily basis.
The word of God reveals to us all of our imperfections and it also shares with us how to address the imperfections. Someone may say, you don't know how bad of a person I am or you don't know the things I have done. You may feel you have made a mess of your life and no one understands. God knows, God understands and God can help you. He is waiting on you to totally surrender to him. He can turn your life around. None of us are perfect. We are all a work in progress. We have to be honest with ourselves and understand there is always room for improvement. Don't allow yourself to become satisfied with where you are. Each day God blesses us with an opportunity for improvement. We have to learn to bid yesterday farewell and embrace the opportunity of today. Every opportunity God gives us; we have to pursue the opportunity with passion in order to do our best.
When we do our best according to God's standard, we don't have to live life with regrets. God is ultimately the judge of every one of our lives. Don't allow others to set your standards, but live your life according to God's standard. God has something special for you ahead, but you will never be able to experience it holding on to yesterday.
God bless and keep you is my prayer.
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