And so we press on…

VERSES: Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 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 press toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
(Phil. 3:12-14, New King James Version)

The name January comes from the name of the Roman God ‘Janus’. It is usually seen with two faces. One looks forward, the other behind. This month is indeed a salient juncture for all of us, being the first month of the New Year. Even as we all rush back to the daily grind of routine work in a couple of days, we may still have some time to reflect on the past and prepare for the future.

A quick reflection on our past may reveal several victories, but also a number of failures. Many of these failures maybe due to broken resolutions from New Year’s Day last year -if we still remember what they were! In the verse we see Paul, the master church-planter apostle for Christ, contributor of 13 of the 66 books of the Bible, admitting that he was not perfect.

‘Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.’ (Matt 5:48, NKJV). If one would read the verses preceding this, we see Jesus prescribing principles that are extremely hard to practice. ‘Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you’ among many others. Even as we look back on our past, we would find that at some point we would have struggled with conforming to these principles, or many other things mentioned in the Word required from us as believers. It is sometimes difficult to face the fact that we, although having being saved from eternal punishment, are imperfect people in the service of a perfect God. But isn’t it this sense of inadequacy – a sense of ‘not having apprehended’ – that can drive us to serve God even more, in a better way?

What is our vision for 2010? Philip Cherian, Director of Formations World Wide, (http://www.formationsworld.com/about.htm) once talked about the concept of vision: ‘Foresight, with insight, based on hindsight.’ We can’t really have a good vision for the future, without some thoughtful reflection of our past – be it incidents, successes, failures or just experiences. Even so, how do we look to the future with hope? Can we be hopeful only if we have got everything all planned and figured out? But if we’ve got it all figured out, why hope?

‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.’ (Jeremiah 29:11, NKJV) We know the One in Whom we can find hope for the future and perpetual guidance:

For this is God, Our God forever and ever; He will be our guide Even to death.

(Ps 48:18, NKJV)

May God bless us all with a prosperous New Year in Him.

THOUGHT: Whatever be our present situation, can we look back with gratitude and look forward with hope?