Stretching Forward

"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, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14 TNIV

We have all been taught in the past few years the value of physically stretching our muscles to keep them healthy. It was at first thought we should stretch before exercise, now we know that doesn't work best. Now we are to stretch after exercise. But we need to stretch them to keep them loose and able to continue to do their job.

Well, of course, Paul is not talking in this passage about physical stretching, however, the word used in verse 14 - "press" is also used in Greek for the word "stretch." So we are being told that part of the key he understood in making constant progress in the Lord was to forget everything in his past and to stretch forward with all - to receive that which had been poured out for him. He had been called and that call was to be in and of heaven as he lived here on this earth - called to live constantly embracing all the Lord had for him.This is absolutely impossible to do, if we hold on to any "past" for any reason.

We spend so much of our time remembering. As we age, this increases. However, the Spirit is not concerned in this passage with our age. He is concerned that His people, regardless of age or situation, forget the past and constantly stretch forward. The secret here to keeping spiritually fit is stretching toward what the Lord has done for us and in us in all areas of our lives.

One way to "see" what he is saying is to think of an oil lamp. When we use one, if we want the lamp to keep burning brightly night after night, then each morning the wick must be trimmed. So each morning, that which burned its brightest the night before, now needs to be cut off and thrown away, so that which can still burn brightly will be able to function well. Otherwise, the lamp will smoke and the light will be less than it could have been.

We have been given the light of Christ. To keep that fully operational, we need to be those who willingly trim (forget) what burned brightest for the Lord yesterday (what is behind), and press (stretch forward) into what He has in mind for this day - this minute, this hour, and this season.