Forgetting Those Things Which are Behind

Phi 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

I have seen many, many people that have nothing except the past to hold on to. They live in the past it seems, because that's all they have. They talk about how someone hurt them at sometime in their childhood or how someone gave them a dirty look at the supermarket today and countless other things. I have known people to hold a grudge against someone that has been dead for years even. Why do we hold to our past so much? What did we leave that we need today? Why won't these people just get on with their lives?

1Ki 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

1Ki 17:2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

1Ki 17:3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

1Ki 17:4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

Elijah went where the Lord led him to go. He stayed at the brook of Cherith that actually fed the river Jordan. God fed Elijah all the time he was there by commanding the ravens to feed him bread and meat.

1Ki 17:7 And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

1Ki 17:8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

1Ki 17:9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

There came a time when this brook dried up and the Lord commanded Elijah to go to Zarephath. Elijah forgot that which he left behind to go to where the Lord wanted him to go. In this day and time we live in we must do the same. Forget what we left behind and pursue what God has laid before us. Just as the brook dried up where God told Elijah to go, the brook that God has put us at will dry up also. We must then move toward the place God has told us to go to. When the brook dried up it was then of no use to Elijah or anyone else. Even the water down-river in the river Jordan is the same water Elijah had been drinking during that time. It will now be old and stagnant. I'm sure no one would want to drink stagnated water. When we hold on to the past hurts and keep unforgivingness in our hearts for those that hurt us, we will surely be drinking stagnated water. It is of no use at all for anyone, except the devil. He will use the past to try to hold us back from the blessings of God. And when we allow that to happened we are going backward instead of forward.

Phi 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul wrote that he will "press toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ." Paul had completely forgotten where he had been and was only remembering where he is going. This is something we need to learn to do. We need to be "perfect" in the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to keep walking on faith and forget about what we see and hear in this world. Forgetting all those that have hurt us. Letting go of the hurt that keeps us form receiving blessings from the Lord.

Prayer

Father God we know that we have come short of your glory. We know that we are still learning your ways. Help us Lord to learn your ways so that we may be "perfect" in you. Help us to forget those that have hurt us and to keep pressing toward the mark of the high calling you have given us. We love you and praise your holy name. Those that are still lost I pray that conviction be put upon their heart that they may know you and be able to forget the hurts that they have experienced. In Jesus precious name, AMEN.