| Sermon Thought by PKD Lee |
Phil 3:13 - Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead
I have always lived in the present with an eye on the future, and have followed the policy of “learn from the past and then forget the past’. It has given me a lot of freedom in life. Why do we find it difficult to forget the past?
One reason could be that our identity tends to come from our past achievements. But when my identity is Jesus Christ, I can let go of the past since my identity does not come from there. My identity comes from my relationship with Jesus.
One danger of getting your identity from the past is that you limit yourself to the achievements of the past, instead of soaring to new heights. I think my achievements of the past are the limits I can reach, when actually God can take me higher. This is especially true when I carry my past failures with me. These failures limit me, and tell me that I cannot do better.
But in Christ, I know that I can do greater things, and surrendering myself to Christ, I let him take me to new heights. I learn from my failures and then forget them and expect great things from God. So, is my aim in life to do great things for God? No. It is to be available to Him so that He can use me, not do great things for Him. That way I get to know Jesus in a way that I could not have known.
My aim in life is to know Jesus and His purposes, as He leads me through them. As I get to know Jesus better and better, my present becomes better and better. This gives me the confidence that tomorrow will always be better than today, as I long as I am surrendered to Jesus and His will.