Focus on the Right Things

“Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14 CSB)

Everybody has a past. Many events in our past may have been quite positive and good, but all of us have some regrets. There may have been some wrong turns, some wrong directions, some mistakes, some sins. Paul certainly had his regrets. The regret factor seems to have a way of pushing its way to the forefront. We have these events of the past, so how then do we deal with them effectively?

In a word, we “forget” them. So, how is that accomplished? When we just mention “the past” and regrets, those memories pop up quickly, showing us that, in fact, we have not forgotten them. We forget, but yet we do not forget. How then can we engage in “forgetting what is behind” as Paul says, while even he himself did not forget his past?

Obviously, we do not forget, just as Paul did not. Those memories are there. So maybe what that means is that Paul meant something other than a literal forgetting of the past. What Paul is talking about is simply laying down the events of the past. We are to take our regrets and our guilt, and we are to let go of them and just lay them down before the Lord. Two actions are important in doing this.

The first action is very simple, though not easy. It is simply a decision. How do you forget what is behind? You bring your past to the Lord, and you decide that you will leave it with Him. And then second, you pursue the goal, what is ahead. You lay aside what your goals were and what your life was, and you pursue the goals and the life that God has for you. You shift your focus from the past to the present and to the future. You follow God’s call on your life as He leads you into His future for you.

Additional verses in Philippians point us to some practical applications. Verse 16, for example, says to live up to whatever truth you have attained. Verse 17 suggests that you imitate the examples of other godly people. And verses 19 and 20 suggest that we not focus on earthly things but on heavenly things where our true citizenship lies and to which we are going.

We can no more forget the past than we can stop breathing, but we can decide to lay aside the aspects of a life outside of Christ that once had value and choose to shift our focus toward the goals God has for us and pursue them. That is what makes each new day fresh and exciting.

Lord, The power of Your redemption is truly awesome, and we thank You that You give each of us a new day each day, full of opportunity to pursue what You have for us. Help us to choose daily to go in that direction. Amen.