Phillipians 3:13b-14: But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Remember those sports day's at school. The athletics carnivals, the swimming carnivals, the soccer and netball tournaments, the indoor sports carnivals and all those other carnivals that required us to split into factions and work together to get first place. It always meant so much if your team was to get first place.
In Philippians 3 Paul compares living life to running a race. He wants to receive God's gold medal, the prize which God has prepared for him. Paul forget's what is behind and strains toward what is ahead. He doesn't think about what has happened previously, and focuses on the goal. He presses forward, not thinking about the past but focussing on the future. As I write this a quote from the movie Racing Stripes comes to mind, "Don't look back, leave it all on the track." In that movie also they are running a race, looking behind slows them down, you have to focus on what is ahead.
In our life also, we must not focus on the past. We must not think about our past failures because dwelling on them will stop us from doing our best and we must also not dwell on our previous success because thinking about what has been doesn't change the present. Instead let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Christ also has enabled us to leave our sins behind. We can bring all our sins and leave them behind at the cross. They have all been paid for and in that way we are able to run with Paul and strain for the same prize.
What is the prize? The prize is what we strive for every day, it is what we work towards throughout our daily walk of life. Perfection. We seek to become like Christ. Perfect and without sin. This goal we cannot achieve in this life yet we work towards it knowing that we will one day receive perfection. That is not to say that we cannot work towards this goal now. We should strive each and everyday to be more like Christ, each day we work to improve our condition, we forget the past and reach forward with daily conversion and repentance, with focussed concentration, seeking to be like Christ - our goal and reward.
