Looking Back

Year-end is a time for looking back (you’ve seen all those articles with the top ten books or movies or news stories from the past year).  So how would the Lord have us view the past?  What does it mean to look back with the eyes of faith?  Or should we look back at all?

Paul says, “But one thing I do:  forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

So are we supposed to “forget what lies behind”?  What is it from the past that Paul puts out of his mind?  In vv 4-6 he lists a number of his upstanding religious “credentials” (e.g., being a zealous Pharisee, “blame­less” under the law).  But compared to knowing Christ, all such gains and achievements and advantages come to nothing (v 7).  So when Paul says he forgets the past, it’s a way of declaring that coming to know Jesus Christ is everything to him.

But don’t forget, part of Paul’s past was his study of the Scriptures (i.e., the Old Testament).  And if you read his letters, you’ll quickly see they’re saturated with Old Testament hopes and promises that are fulfilled in Christ.  Paul does not forget a lifetime of learning from God’s Word once he encounters Jesus Messiah.

What’s more, we’re not encouraged to forget the past in the sense of somehow erasing it from memory.  In fact, there are key facts we must remember for our spiritual life and health.  I’ll mention two.

First, don’t forget how lost you were before being found by Jesus (“Remember” being without hope and without God in this world, Eph 2:11-12).  It may be tempting to put your pre-Christian, self-serving, sinful past out of your mind, but if you do you’ll cease to cherish God’s saving mercy.  And salvation will seem ho-hum.

Second, always remember what Christ did for you.  Take the Lord’s Supper, Jesus commands, “In remembrance of me.”  As 2 Timothy 2:8 adds, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.”

Yes, remember:  here at year-end, think back; dwell on God’s amazing grace and unfathomable sacrifice to make our salvation possible!