LOOKING AHEAD

When we consider that our car rear view mirror is much smaller than the windshield, we are reminded of the fact that the future is more important than the past. 

                                                                       
If we allow the mistakes, sins and regrets of the past to hold us back – and we brood over them – we will not make any progress.

The greatest apostle who ever lived, Paul, has this to say:

“I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. My friends, I don’t feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done” (Philippians 3:12-14).

When we run in race, we look ahead and not backwards. We envision that moment of exhilaration when we cross the finishing line. That goal is what keeps us moving forward:

“And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and finisher (perfecter) of faith” (Hebrews 12: 2).

                                                                  

With ageing, our minds and bodies are no longer as nimble and sprightly as they were before. While these changes may cause us to feel despondent, we must come to terms with reality – that ageing is an inevitable part of life. No doubt, the ravages of time will eventually leave their imprint on our faces: wrinkling, sagging, crow’s feet and frown lines.

But we cannot afford to moan or mope over any opportunity which has passed us by. The past is over. We have to make the best of our lives in the present. And look forward to brighter things ahead.

                                                                       
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4: 16-18). 

“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1).

God can restore to us all our past losses:

“Then I will make up to you for the years

That the swarming locust has eaten,

The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust,

My great army which I sent among you” (Joel 2:25).

                                                                 
In a poignant beach scene in John chapter 21, the resurrected Christ served fish and bread to Peter and then confronted him. The disciple who once denied Jesus three times was challenged to serve God anew. 

His identity changed from fisherman to evangelist. His impetuousness gave way to stability and maturity. He was to be the rock of the early church. 

Here we see a God of amazing grace who discounts our past sins, restores and reinstates us when we repent.