Forgetfulness

Forgetfulness  

Failure to Remember.

 

Philippians 3 v 13b-14

“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.”

 

It’s so easy for us to get caught up in the past. Sometimes it’s past achievements we rest on, where we’ve become proud of ourselves and allowed ourselves to get complacent.  Sometimes it’s past hurts we refuse to let go of which can make us bitter and stagnant.  Both will stunt our growth and keep us, motionless, where we are.   

 

God’s Word tells us to forget the things in our past that would hinder us.  Those things are different for each of us I am sure.  To forget something means “to fail to remember” it.  I wonder what things might be keeping us from reaching forward – stretching with outstretched hands – to the things God has prepared for our future.  What is holding us back from pressing towards that final, glorious goal and winning the prize?  What are we holding onto that makes us too emotionally drained to exert the continuous physical force we need to “press” toward that goal?  What open sores do we keep poking at, never allowing to heal? 

 

If it’s a broken heart from a failed relationship, then take comfort in the fact that the Lord is near to those who have a broken heart (Psalm 34v18). Take Him at His Word.  If it’s bereavement, He will comfort you in your mourning (Matthew 5v4). If it’s guilt that is crippling you and causing you to keep looking over your shoulder at your sin and the aftermath of it, then you need to remember Psalm 103v12 where He promises to remove our sins from us, as far as the east is from the west.  Where we have made poor choices in our family lives, and lacked integrity and fairness in the past, all we need to do is ask for wisdom for the future and He will grant it (James 1v5).

 

We need not be crippled by the things we are ashamed of in our pasts.  If we are truly repentant, we are forgiven.  There is now no condemnation for us.  Let’s live like we believe that.  

But let us also repent of our good deeds, which are filthy rags in His sight.  Let us consider everything rubbish compared to knowing Jesus as Lord.  Our righteousness does not come from any good works that we do, which we give ourselves a pat on the back for.  It comes from God, on the basis of faith.  He loves us not because of who we are and what we’ve done, but purely because of who HE is and what HE has accomplished on our behalf. 

With this in mind, let’s drop all the baggage and vanity we are holding onto, and strain forward towards far better things.  Let us learn to forget.