sooo, if you have been in church for any part of your life, you have heard this passage…
philippians 3:12-14(NLT)
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
my question is…was the focus of the message you heard or the devotional that you read on the present or the future???
or if this is the first time you’re reading it…do you see the focus being on the present or the future???
i press on…
Line 14, I think captures where and what I feel about this verse. I strive daily to be more like God, and yet know I have a long way to go. Its a little of both for me I guess. I want to be that perfection for whch Christ first possessed me. Somedays it is really hard to strive for that, and other days you just can’t wait til tomorrow to do more. God bless ya today Jon, you always make me think thru either a passage or a song.
After some contemplation, I kept coming back to this same thought: we “look(ing) forward to what lies ahead” (v13) …the future…so that we might not stumble now…in the present…I kept thinking of how we walk. We don’t stare down at our feet to see where each step lands, but rather we look to see what lies ahead, taking each step in faith, confident that we are on solid ground because we have been continually forward looking and scanning for danger…
I’ve always read that section this way: if Paul, who we think was “perfect” or as humanly perfect a possible, if he felt he hadn’t yet met his goal, how much more does that encourage and challenge me to reach my full potential. So it is both current and future. It’s ok that I am still a mess-up, but suck it up and get back in the game.
Jon you are such an inspiration and gift . Love ya, man. May he surround you with his peace, and may his words guide you as he softly whispers the message he wants you to deliver!!
“i press on to reach the end”…that’s the key phrase for me…if i don’t press on RIGHT NOW, then what?
we can focus on the goal…and we should…but if we don’t press on RIGHT NOW…we don’t get any closer to the goal…
Same line you just quoted. Having a goal in site will help us reach and strive for something specific. But, if you look too far ahead it’s easy to trip up.
“I’m gonna live for today. I’m gonna follow in Your ways. I’m gonna light my little light shine like their’s no tomorrow. I won’t worry about the past for my future is intact. So I’ll choose to live my life one way. I’m gonna live it for today.”
Natalie Grant
Bless you, John Mark and your music! Your blog came up when I published a blog I wrote about perfection and failure today: http://xianforbeauty.wordpress.com/ feel free to peruse. As someone who has literally been last in a race (at the Special Olympics when I was nine) and got the gold medal, anyway (just because I fell down and got back up). I have learned what matters most to God is the heart we run with, not where we place in speed, in brawn or even according to earth. The past and the present work together in who we are and what we will become: even if it’s the prize we’re after, the journey is beautiful. Thank you for sharing a passage packed with so much to learn about why we are here and what we are running for!
Much love,
Xian