Looking Ahead Not Behind

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 forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Many times we lose sight of the path we are to follow because we spend too much time looking back at the path we have already trod. Crying over mistakes we made and grieving over something we cannot change. The past is but history and moping over errors in judgment and continuing to look back will cause us to not see the future and the great things God has planned for us. If our outlook is backward instead of forward our vision is dimmed and our enthusiasm is dampened. There is an old saying “there is no use crying over split milk”. History is likely to repeat itself if we keep brooding over failures and continue complaining over failures and short comings.
Paul’s encouragement to the Philippians is to forget what happened in the past and look forward to the future. If we confess our sins to God He is faithful and just to forgive us and forget about the mistakes we make. (1 John 1:9) We should also forget what has happened and look forward to the prize of the high calling of God. If God forgets so should we. If God forgives us we should also forgive ourselves. Life is too short to live in the past. We need to make right the things that need correcting, and then we need to move forward with confidence and trust in our heavenly Father. The mistakes of the past are a heavy burden we need not carry. Out future is bright and with our eyes on Christ we must walk with heads up and knowledge the victory is ours. Jesus walked up Calvary’s hill and He never looked back to see who was following. He looked up to heaven and He looked to the future. If we look back we can miss the blessings God has in store for us. Like Paul we must be reaching forth unto those things which are before, pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.