Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal. . . .
\n \u2014 Philippians 3:13-14<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to get trapped in the past, isn\u2019t it? We hold on to things we wish we could undo, replaying those moments in our minds again and again. It\u2019s as if we are carrying a heavy bag full of regret, guilt, or past mistakes\u2014constantly reminding ourselves of our shortcomings. I know I\u2019ve struggled with that\u2014especially when I have wished I could turn back time and do things differently.\u00a0But here Paul reminds us that the past is behind us, and that dwelling on it doesn\u2019t help us to grow. In fact, that can hold us back from the new things God wants to do in our lives. There\u2019s a freedom in forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, just as Paul describes in this passage.\u00a0God is calling us to press on\u2014 to pursue the goal he has for us. This doesn\u2019t mean forgetting the lessons of the past, but it does mean no longer letting the past define our future. There\u2019s a prize ahead, and it\u2019s waiting for all of us who are ready to leave our old life behind.\u00a0Let\u2019s press on toward the newness that God has for us, not letting our past mistakes or regrets hold us back.<\/p>\n
Lord, help me to let go of the past and to press forward into the future you have called me to. May I strain toward the prize you have for me, trusting that your grace is sufficient. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal. . . . \u2014 Philippians 3:13-14 It\u2019s easy to get trapped in the past, isn\u2019t it? We hold on to things we wish we could undo, replaying those moments in our minds again and again. It\u2019s as if we<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[3355],"class_list":["post-14889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-devotionals","tag-letting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}