GPS Guide – January 1, 2020

ALL THINGS NEW

Wednesday

Read: Philippians 3:10-14

¹⁰ I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. 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. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, 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, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (NIV Philippians 3:10-14)

Study: In these words, so fitting for New Year’s Day, the apostle Paul testified about how he kept reaching to grow into all God called him to be. As The Message renders these verses, he said, “I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me….I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.” In verse 13, Paul shared an essential truth in pursuing God’s goals: “I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me.” The process of growing spiritually focuses on what is to come, not what lies behind. Are you letting anything from your past define you in the present? If so, ask God to help you let it go. Focus your energy on the year ahead, not the things (bad or good) in the past.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, make it more true of me this year that “the goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus.” Keep my eyes on the prize of the ultimate goal of life in your kingdom. Amen.