“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.” – Philippians 3:13
We all know Apostles Paul’s former life. He persecuted the church, creating havoc, beating, and even murdering disciples, both women and men. Those sins grieved his heart deeply, but they also became the fuel for his ministry. He worked with great passion to preach the gospel because he understood the weight of the grace he had received.
Paul knew that the sins he committed were already paid in full on the cross. His past mistakes and failures could not be undone, nor could he pay for them himself. But when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, he received forgiveness and a calling he was determined to finish. And so can we. We can learn from our past, but we are not bound by the things we have done. Because when the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. Instead of being chained by our past mistakes, we can move forward, knowing that we have received Christ’s forgiveness just as Paul did.
That is why Paul used the analogy of a runner in a race. For a runner to win, he cannot look back, because looking back breaks focus. Paul knew that knowing Christ was a lifelong pursuit and that single-minded dedication was required to finish what God called him to do. And James reminds us, “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
So if we are to finish our race, we too must lay aside every distraction that is holding us back, whether it be fear, doubt, sin, or the weight of our past, and press on with endurance to complete the task the Lord has given us, knowing that Jesus is both the source of our strength and our ultimate goal
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