Focal Passage: Philippians 3:12-21
Have you ever had a teacher say something like “if you remember one thing from my class period remember this …”? It seems as if Paul is doing something similar for us in Philippians 3:13.
He writes in the last part of the text, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” When Paul, the greatest missionary and church planter who ever lived, mentions the one thing he is the most committed to we should listen! This singularly significant action includes faithfully dealing with one of the most difficult areas of our lives, our past.
What exactly is Paul saying here? Should we try to bury our past in the nether regions of our subconscious? Are we to pretend like events in our past didn’t occur? Understanding a bit of the Greek will be helpful. The word “forgetting” in the original language of the New Testament is ἐπιάνοµαι (ep-ee-lan-than’-om-ahee).
This word can be understood as neglecting or no longer caring for. Notice also that the word is in the present tense. In context, dealing with the past is what allows us to strain forward to what lies ahead. I believe Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is telling us to no longer care for the past in a way that it keeps us from moving forward.
Bosak
In addition to our natural predisposition to dwell on the past the enemy knows that constant reminders of our past can keep us from God’s preferred future. So, how can we develop a perspective of a powerless past? There is an Old Testament illustration that can help.
After the death of his son Pharaoh finally relented and released the Israelites. As God’s people journeyed toward the Promised Land they encountered two major obstacles. In front of them they witnessed the vast Red Sea blocking their path and behind them a great cloud of dust from the cavalcade of Egyptian soldiers charging toward them. Pharoah wanted his slaves back and led the charge to run them down. God had made a way for His people to be free from Egyptian dominion. They were on their way to God’s preferred future and in a sense, their past was rushing in to keep that from becoming a reality.
You know what happened next. God’s people journeyed through the Red Sea after God miraculously made a way for them. “Forgetting” the past is possible when we realize that God has miraculously made a path forward. We should receive motivation to move past our past into the blessed future that only God could design.
Check out Exodus 14:30-31. For the sake of our illustration what did God do with the representations of Israel’s past? He destroyed them. If you are in Christ God has forgiven your past sin. He can and will heal your past shame. When your past seeks to run you down and keep you from God’s glorious future remember that He has dropped a wall of water on what hopes to hold you back.
Exodus 14:31 paints a morbid but important picture. God allowed the Israelites to see the dead bodies of the Egyptian soldiers. We should look back and learn from the difficulties in our past but also see that God has rendered them powerless. B&R
