Pressing On in the Faith, Part II

Philippians 3: 10 -17 (NIV): I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 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. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

Paul knew he wasn't perfect – and he knew he never would be, but his goal was simple: to become more and more like Christ every day. That should be our goal too. Paul could have bemoaned in this letter how badly he was being treated. He could have complained that God had allowed him to be imprisoned for preaching the Word. He wrote this, in fact, as he awaited his sentence and he wasn't sure if he was going to live or die. Instead of complaining, though, he wrote that he had found contentment in any circumstance. He wrote that he could do all things through Christ. He wrote that life was good, but being with Jesus would be even better. Over and over in this letter he tells us to rejoice. He writes that we should pray about everything and worry about nothing.
In this passage, Paul says he was pressing on to be more like Christ no matter his circumstances. He was forgetting what was behind and straining forward like a runner in a race. Paul knew that a runner must not look back. He must forget his past mistakes and put one foot in front of the other as he pushed ahead.
In this passage, he encourages us to live up to the maturity level we have reached. This means we do not back slide or waver in our faith, but we continually move forward. And he encourages us to follow his example. Paul spent a lot of time in prayer. He ministered to others. Paul was a righteous man. He fellowshipped with other believers. He walked by faith and not by sight. He wanted the mind of Christ.
Let us press forward in our faith. Let us leave the past and move into the future knowing that each new day is a new opportunity to press on in our faith.