A Foresightful Man

PAUL

 

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT)

 

Harry Truman, the thirty-third president of the United States, was a for-ward-looking man. He likened men who focused too much on the past to a "Floogie Bird," a wooden toy with a label on its neck, reading, "I fly back-wards, I don't care where I'm going. I just want to see where I've been." 

 

Though it may sometimes be tempting to live in the past, God promises to bless you when you focus on what he calls you to do today and in the future. The apostle Paul lived by this biblical truth.

 

Paul remembered the past and the lessons he had learned from it. In fact, he often referred to his past, but he didn't live there. He preferred looking forward to the things God had for him—namely, finishing the race that was set when God first called him to devote his life to serving Jesus Christ.

 

That's a great lesson for everyone who follows Jesus.

 

God has a wonderful plan for your future. Don't focus so much on where you've been that you lose sight of where you are headed.

 

Though it's great and helpful to remember your past and the lessons it teaches, God wants you to become a forward-looking man who continually presses on with an eye for the great things the Lord will do for you today and in the future.

 

Taken from “The One Year Men of the Bible” by James Stuart Bell September 16