FIRST GOOD SAMARITAN BAPTIST CHURCH
The Caring Church, Preparing the World by Sharing the Word
WEEKLY WORD
THE BLESSING IS IN THE PRESSING!
[PART II]
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. Philippians 3:12-14 [NLT]
It is in part 2 of this message where we focus in on vs. 13 that speaks to what needs to be done before pressing. Paul talks about pressing in vs. 14 towards the mark but prior to the pressing, he talks about looking ahead and/or reaching ahead.
• NLT says: 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,
• NKJV says: 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
Paul finds himself in between what was and what will be when the text speaks to forgetting what is behind and looking/reaching to those things that are ahead. This brings us to an important time period that speaks to NOW! The question becomes: What should we do NOW? It is how you handle “now” that speaks to what you are preparing for “next.”
The first thing we need to be doing before pressing for the mark, is looking ahead. Problem with many of us is that instead of looking ahead we want to linger in what we did last. Whenever it comes to the past it’s what we should only learn from and not live in. So, the message is to look forward to the future because looking ahead means you won’t be left behind.
In the NKJV, we see the text uses the word REACHING. This reaching forward means that it takes effort and energy. Whenever you are reaching forward speaks to expectations. However, you can not allow your expectation to exceed your effort which means reaching requires a work ethic that matches your expectations! Reaching requires diligence, perseverance, and persistence to achieve what God has promised in your future.
Always remember whenever you are reaching for your future, I guarantee that you will have people trying to pull you back into your past. There are some people who are intimidated by your future so they will try to infect your future by reminding you of your past that Paul says to forget. Whenever you have people trying to get you to remember and relive your past, then they are the ones trying to pull you while you are reaching. Always remember, understanding that you have a future will funeralize your past.
Dr. James A. Simmons, Senior Pastor