Forgetting The Past
By
Shelby G. Floyd
A good friend
of mine in his eighties has said, “If Father Time doesn’t get you, Mother
Nature will!” Today is the last day of 2008. This causes us to reflect upon the brevity
of life, and the seriousness of serving God. James asked, “...For what is your
life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little
time, and then vanisheth away.” (James 4:14.)
Life is brief, our days are few, and the time is evil; therefore, we must seize
every opportunity to serve Christ. In the book of Hebrews, we read: “Wherefore seeing we also
are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which doth so easily beset us, and
let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
throne of God.” (Hebrews 12: 1-2.)
The
Christian Race
In Hebrews, chapter eleven, the writer defined faith, and stated that without it, it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:1, 6.) He then mentioned a long list of men and women who by faith had overcome the greatest of obstacles. These faithful ones had died in faith, and are presented as a great cloud of witnesses enclosing the people then living as they were running the race that was before them. The writer has reference to the athletic games that were held by the Greeks and Romans.
The Christian life, figuratively, is like a race that must be run with patience and faithful endurance. In those ancient athletic contests, the runners not only underwent vigorous training and exercise, but on the day of the race they laid aside every weight and encumbrance that would beset them in winning the race. In like manner, we who are serving Christ must lay aside anything that would hinder in running the race that is set before us.
The Love of Pleasure
One thing that
is besetting many persons in running
the Christian race today is the love of
pleasure. So much money and time is being used in going after pleasure
that little is left to serve God. Paul mentioned those who were, “…lovers of
pleasures more than lovers of God.” (2 Timothy 3:4.) In his letter to
the young preacher Titus, he speaks of those who once were “deceived
and serving divers lusts and
pleasures.” (Titus 3: 3.) In the parable of the sower, some persons did not bring any fruit unto perfection since the
word of God was choked out because of the pleasures of this life. (Luke
8: l4.) Let us remember that one of those persons in the cloud of witnesses which surrounds us,
and encourages us to faithful endurance, was Moses: “and yet when he came to years, he refused to be called the son of
Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer
the afflictions of the people of God,
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season. (Hebrews 11: 24-25.)
Neglect and Indifference
Another
besetting sin in running the
race before us is that of neglect and indifference. In the
days of Deborah and Barak, Sisera,
the captain of the host of the
king of
The
Crown of Life
To the Corinthians, Paul referred to the race when he said, “Know ye not that they which run
in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may
obtain. And every man that striveth for the
mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a
corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly;
so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others,
I myself should be a castaway.” (1
Corinthians 9: 24-27.) In
those ancient contests only one
person received a prize; but in the Christian race everyone who is faithful unto death may receive the prize. (Revelations 2: 10.) They strove for
worldly honors and for a crown that was corruptible; but we are to strive
for a crown that is
incorruptible, a crown of life which
is reserved in heaven, and which fades not away. (1
Peter 5: 4.)
Discipline
and Training
The apostle Paul emphasized that in order to receive this prize, the crown of life, one must keep under his body, and
bring it into subjection: lest after
having preached to others one should
be a castaway. Paul had to discipline himself, and buffet his body, lest he not practice
what he preached to others. Even though Paul suffered more than any others for the cause of Christ, he never considered himself as having reached perfection. To the Philippians, he wrote, “Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which
are before I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3: 13-14.)
The
Homestretch
As we enter 2009, let us concentrate on forgetting the
things that are behind, and reach forth unto the things that are before us. The phrase “reaching forth”
conveys the meaning of stretching out to or towards; to
stretch one’s self forward to a goal or
to an object that is before one. In running a race in an
athletic contest, when a runner comes to the final part of
the race, it is sometimes
called “the homestretch.” This means
that one must strenuously put
out everything that one has
within him in order to complete the
race and to win. As each year goes by, one is nearer the
homestretch of life. Copyright © 2008
Shelby Floyd, All Rights Reserved