By Steven Grace

Verse: Philippians 3:10-14 (NIV)

¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. ¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Devotion:

I’ve said for a number of years and feel strongly that we have been at a watershed moment in the life of the church, both locally at Springdale, and on a state-wide/nation-wide/world-wide scale. Things in society are changing, and we as Christians are watching them happen. And as those changes occur, the importance placed on worship, Bible study and prayer seems to be declining.

But the only way to make sure we don’t go down the wrong path is to make sure we are being proactive in making positive decisions for our future. This passage from Philippians reminds us of a couple of things:

First, we can’t and shouldn’t completely forget our history. However, we do need to continually look forward. If we are constantly looking back to where we’ve been and what we’ve done, we will never be able to find a way to move forward. That means that we may need to change the way we operate. That means we may need to explore new ministry ideas to take the place of others that may not be reaching people. That means we may have to accept new ideas that put us out of our comfort zone. If we are focused solely on our past, we will never be able to experience and shape our future. But, through all of that, we must remember how we have gotten to where we are; we must use our history and past accomplishments as building blocks heading into the future.

Second, this passage shows that no matter what we have done or accomplished in the past, we must still strive on to perfection in Christ. Jesus tells us that the foundation of a solid, Christian life is found in the Great Commandment: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV) In other words, if I/you/we have done something wrong in the past, don’t dwell on it. We are all human and make mistakes. We must seek forgiveness and repent. But because Christ, who was sinless, died for us, we are able to keep moving forward. And in order to do that, we must love God (pray, study the Bible, worship, witness) and we must love our neighbors. If we can accomplish those two things, “all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments,” so we can continue to strive for perfection in Christ. And that means to live up to the example that Christ set for us in his life.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for years of great history, as Christians around the world, and here at Springdale UMC. Focus us as we look forward to what lies ahead—perfection in Christ. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.