Simply the Bible Blog

“Brothers, 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, NIV)

I guess you could say I’m somewhat of a late bloomer. Here it is the third week of January, and I’m just now getting ’round to setting a New Year’s resolution for this blog. I came across The Daily Post, and it challenged me to be more intent about writing regularly. OK so I’ve been here before. Like so many resolution makers, I have resolved and worked for a period of time only to watch my good intentions fade in a flurry of other demands. But the cliché that if you aim for nothing you’ll hit it every time is true. So here I go again. You may witness my success or failure, but by all means please hold me accountable.

I take comfort in the fact that I’m not the only one who feels that he doesn’t have it all together. Even the apostle Paul, a hero of the Christian faith, felt he hadn’t arrived yet. Paul (aka Saul) knew that the Lord appeared to him in a very dramatic way for a purpose (Act 9). Now he wanted to lay hold of that purpose for which God laid hold of him by pursuing it with single-minded passion. But first he had to let go of what was behind. Paul had many ghosts in his past. He was a blasphemer and an injurious, self-righteous Pharisee. When his fellow Jews stoned Stephen to death he gave his approval. If anyone could have been stuck in the mire of memories it was Paul. But he chose to receive God’s mercy, forgiveness and grace and to forget his past. When he wrote to the Corinthians that a person in Christ is a “new creation” he was also speaking to himself (2 Cor. 5.17). This freedom from the bondage of his former life gave him power to be the new person God created him to be. Now he pursued this goal with the passion and resolve of a marathon runner. His eyes were fixed on the goal, and he would run until he received the crown of glory. Paul finished well because he did not permit the ghosts of the past to haunt his present…or his future.

That brings me back to my goal. I have made a commitment to post once a week in 2011. That’s 52 posts for the year. (Now can I let you in on a secret? I am really aiming to do this five days a week, but don’t tell anyone!) I’m not going to let my past failures keep me from reaching forward to glorious goals!

What about you? Are there goals you would like to achieve in 2o11? Exercise, getting out of debt, taking your wife out on a date, laying off snacks, going to church–what is your resolution? Are there purposes that you are convinced that God has for you? What are your gifts? What is your passion? Where is He blessing you and calling you? It’s not too late to lay hold of it today!