Moving Forward
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Life is about change.
We begin in a womb and we’re born - that was a major change. Remember that?
Then we grow. That in itself is an amazing process. Scientists tell us that we lose billions of cells every day, and they’re replaced with new ones. Our blood is replaced about once every 4 months (not all at once).
If you’ve been to a doctor you probably note that they do tests on you today that they didn’t 10 years ago. My doctors have often said something like, “Due to your age it’s time to start (fill in the blank).”
Change.
It’s Labor Day weekend, a sort of unofficial end of summer. We won’t get into when exactly summer ends, because apparently it depends on if you’re talking meteorological or astronomical. Looking at our trees in the parking lot, I would say they are ready to say that the seasons are changing.
If you’ve driven around this past week, no doubt you’re seeing a lot more school buses on the roads again. School starts, and that means change.
All of this has me thinking about change. It’s something we all experience and it’s something many of us fear. Truth is, I’m sure that has not changed since biblical times.
We don’t know what will be in the future, it’s an unknown, and I think of all the unknowns people faced in the Bible.
Abram was living in with his extended family in a land he was familiar with and God said, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”
Change.
What amazes me is that all the Bible says is, “So Abram went.” He went forward.
When the disciples were called to follow Jesus, the Scripture tells us of the calling of Simon (Peter) and Andrew his brother: Jesus called and “Immediately they left their nets and followed Him,” (Mt. 4:20). And James and John (the sons of Zebedee), Jesus calls them and “Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him, (v. 22).
Change!
Every time we’re called, we’re called into the unknown. Every time we move into the future, we move into the unknown. Every time we move forward, we move from the old to the new which means we move into something unknown.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
The old is gone - change.
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
Embracing change.
If we do not embrace change, we become resistant to it. Have you ever felt stuck? Of course you have, we all have. We’re uncertain of the future, the past looks safe, but we forget all the change that brought us to what ever point in our past we’re looking at. Today, many people long for the good ol’ days. Yet, if we were magically transported back to the “Good Ol’ Days” we would see that even then we were looking back to their “Good Ol’ Days.” In other words, the “Good Ol’ Days” weren’t as good as we may remember.
Perhaps the greatest example to us of continuing to look forward is Lot’s wife. You may remember God had told Lot and his family that he was going to destroy the city they were in and they were commanded to escape to another city and not to look back. As they were fleeing and God was destroying the city Lots wife looked back,
But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
She became stuck right where she was - no more moving forward, and no moving back. That’s what happens to us when we’re constantly looking back. We get stuck.
Listen to God’s word.
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Think about that - something new - are you looking for it? Or are you stuck in the dry past of the desert.
Jesus tells us to not be anxious: Matthew 6:34
“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
We need to focus on today, not yesterday, and not tomorrow. Let’s be present. It’s interesting to note that this verse comes directly after Jesus command to seek God’s kingdom first. We read in verse 33,
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
That is what we’re to be about. Seeking God first in our present. Not fearful of the future, and not clinging to what was, but living in the present and pressing on to make each day better.
We’re in the middle of Labor Day weekend, and for many school has already started, and for others it’s about to begin. The school year means change, new classes, new teachers, more traffic. Our jobs change as well - even though we’re not in school at the end of summer we seem to move into another gear at work. In the church, as well - and next Sunday we’ll have a sort of “kick-off” Sunday.
What are you looking forward to this year? What changes are you wanting to make? How are you pressing forward? How are you...
Philippians 3:13 (ESV)
... forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
How will you press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you?
Phil 3:12
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
I want to pause now, and actually take the time to pray with you, to pray over you as we begin new things.
In a moment we will celebrate communion, which is again an opportunity for us to be changed into the person we are becoming in Christ. Let me pray for you.