“Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (NKJV)
Paul knew thousands of years ago what psychologists and behavioral specialists teach today – that successful people have clear goals, and that keeping your eyes on the goal is an important part of achieving anything. In fact, Proverbs 29:18, (written long before Paul’s letters) says that “people can perish without a vision”! In other words, everyone needs a dream to walk and grow towards, and God is looking to partner with dreamers, ones who are not afraid to dream big with Him.
Paul says “Forget those things which are behind” because we can easily get stuck in the patterns of the past which may not be producing the fruit we are looking to see in our current season. Think about your life; what are the patterns you are stuck in? Even the most “revived” Jesus people end up falling into patterns in their worship and their spiritual life, and it is easy for something awesome and fresh to become a religious routine in time. Life itself becomes an unconscious pattern we get stuck in, where we do everything – from the moment we wake up – in a unconscious, predictable pattern, moving through the day almost in automatic mode! Jesus gives us the opportunity to break free and establish new patterns – He gives us a new mind and a new heart. He says “look up, look ahead; see the banquet I have laid up for you!”, and though this is an offer we all receive with joy, it is so easy to slip back into the religious routine of our lives, and not see what is right there before us the free gift beyond value – the Prize!
When we lose sight of the vision, and we stop walking towards it; it is easy to get distracted and diverted. It is easy to end up on an unproductive hamster wheel, keeping up appearances and just going through the motions. Where else do we see God telling us to leave the past behind and dive into the new “now” thing? In Isaiah 43:18 & 19. We are told again to “forget the former thing” and not focus on the past because God is doing something new which we will begin to see as we begin to look for it and focus upon it. So what is the key here? Keeping our eyes on the prize! Keeping our eyes on the goal, on the face and the person of Jesus Christ.
It is important to set goals because it makes you look at where you currently are, and where you want to be, and how you need to get there. This applies to everything in life. Our life in God is meant to be a path of progression. As Paul says, it is an “upward call of God in Christ Jesus”. There is no looking back, once you decide to be a disciple of Jesus; only looking up and setting our eyes on heaven, to absorb and manifest from Him, the One who has given us everything!
Friend there is so much more awaiting you, more than anything you’ve seen up to now! There are higher heights ahead and Jesus is calling you upwards always. Every day and in every situation, we are given the opportunity to hear the upward call of God in Jesus, our goal and our prize. We are given the free choice to go further in God and deeper into the things of Heaven, or to stay right where we are, plodding through the patterns we are accustomed to. This looks like going further into His presence, daily deeper into His Word, allowing this to fully impact our lives; allowing yesterday’s revelation or understanding to be laid aside to give way to what the Holy Spirit shows us today.
To reach forward to those things which are ahead, we really do need to break free of everything that keeps us anchored to the past – hurts and trauma, unresolved conflict and disappointments, everything we perceive as a failure, and even the belief systems that we have just accepted, unquestioningly over the years. What does it take to reach the prize? How can we reach that goal that’s set before us? By consciously letting go of the old thing, and allowing our brains to build new neural pathways, with fresh possibilities and new revelations; by awakening to the fact that we really don’t know all things because there is a treasure trove of divine, supernatural untapped possibilities in God! Jesus is our vision, our revelation, our goal; He is the door standing open in Heaven (Revelations 4:1), the one we walk into and through, to step into this glorious world of “new”. There’s a prize right there ahead of you. You don’t have to work to receive it, but you do have to position your heart to seek and to answer the upward call of God every day. See it, believe it, receive it – it is for you!
Minoli Haththotuwa, 14 June 2023
