My Thoughts On Philippians 3:12-13

Philippians 3:12-13 “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brothers I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.”

In these verses Paul is again referring to his resurrection from the dead. He admits that He has not already obtained the things he is talking about, but he continues to strive to make the resurrection from the dead his own. In a following verse Paul encourages strongly “Only let us hold true to what we have attained.” This verse stuck out to me. How do we do this? We forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead. We forget about our dead self that, along with its desires, lie in the tomb, and we strain towards eternity. We do this so that we can hold true to what we have attained already. We do this so that we don’t backslide. We do this so that we don’t go back to that tomb and look around. I know that I am really bad at leaving past mistakes or past desires that are no longer pleasing to God in the dust. I know that I am really good at picking up new desires or making new mistakes that take me back to that place of death. As a Child of God it is easy to forget that this isn’t our home. I get comfortable and lazy and I stop striving. I start looking around me instead of ahead at the place God has prepared for me. When I stop and think about eternity for just one minute I feel convicted for my thoughts and actions. I feel convicted for the things I found important. God, help me not lose sight of eternity.

Application: Today whenever I am feeling selfish or caught up in the mundane of life I will take a moment and pray for a fresh view of eternity.