Philippians 3:13-14
“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, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
The bed of Arizona’s Paria River is notorious for its quicksand base, the result of flashfloods depositing silt and clay from steep canyon walls. It’s possible to walk safely over the riverbed as long as you keep moving, making sure not to break the surface. But the moment you stop, the treacherous quicksand begins pulling you down. What an apt picture of the danger of resting on our spiritual achievements!
Many Bible scholars and teachers agree that the Apostle Paul’s words might be the most accurate description of a true Christian life. Paul possessed a divine dissatisfaction with the status quo in his walk with Christ, as we should as well. His pursuit wasn’t salvation but rather continued maturity.
Some might think they are okay because they haven’t gone back to the ways of the world, the miry clay from which they were freed (Psalm 40:2), but are they moving forward in the Lord? Puritan preacher Charles Spurgeon proclaimed, “Go forward or be lost!” The danger isn’t to our eternal security. We risk becoming stuck and stagnant by resting on past spiritual accomplishments, believing that we’ve arrived.
Can you say, “I will not stop in my pursuit of the person and presence of Jesus, and His plan for my life?” Or, “I am not the same man or woman I was six months ago?” I pray that you continue to move and grow as you walk with Christ. May we all, in these last days, be very careful to see to it that drawing ever closer to Jesus is our primary aim.
– Pastor Jack
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