Paul the apostle told the
Philippian church members that he knew he had not already attained or
was already perfect, but he followed after Jesus Christ that he might
apprehend that for which he was apprehended. In chapter three and
verse thirteen Paul continues this idea of apprehending by sharing
the manner in which he seeks this apprehension. 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,
The verse begins, “Brethren,
I count not myself to have apprehended:” Let
us notice once again the closeness that Paul has with the Philippians
as he uses the term “Brethren” to
address them, and indeed they were as family to Paul. He goes on to
repeat the idea that he had not “apprehended”
by declaring “I count not myself”
which means “to reckon, compute, calculate, or count over”
, and this demonstrates once again Paul's humility concerning himself
and his own works.
The verse goes on to say, “
but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind,”. Paul
declared that there was “one thing”
that he did - “forgetting those things which are behind”.
The word “forgetting”
in this sense means “neglecting, no longer caring for,
forgotten, given over to oblivion, i.e. uncared for”, and “those
things which are behind” refers to the things of the past. The
main step for Paul to apprehend that for which he was apprehended was
to forget about, no longer care for, and neglect his past.
Finally
the verse says, “and reaching forth unto those things which are
before,” In addition to forgetting his past, Paul knew he also
needed to be “reaching forth” which means “to stretch
out towards” “those things which are before” which means
“in front of or in the sight of” and refers to his future. Paul
told the Philippians the one thing he would be concentrating upon
would be to forget his past, and look toward the future.
Sometimes
the past is difficult to forget. Times and seasons in our lives are
branded upon our minds, and without a concentrated effort in pray and
appeal to the Lord for help, they remain in our thinking. Paul the
apostle had a very memorable past before and after he received Jesus
Christ as his Savior and Lord. The key for him was to not dwell upon
his past whether things were good or bad back then. His focus needed
to be forward, and if we can realize Paul's way, we may also be able
to apprehend all the Lord has for us in our lives. May the Lord help
us to not care so much for the things of the past that we forget to
look forward to the future.
Next
time Paul talks about what he pressed towards, so read ahead, and we
shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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