Matt. 6:34a, "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow."
The operative phrase from Phil. 3:13 for our purposes today is, "Forgetting what is behind."These words of advice are found in Garth Stein's book "The Art of Racing in the Rain," "To remember is to disengage from the present.
In order to reach any kind of success in automobile racing, a driver must never remember." In other words, in racing, and in other athletic endeavors, it is crucial to be in the moment at all times. Being in the moment is also good advice for living the Christian life. Our joy, our peace, and our effectiveness can all be adversely affected if we try to drag around the memories of our past sins, mistakes, and shortcomings, with their accompanying guilt, shame, and regret. We can allow bitterness against others who have mistreated us in the past to steal our joy and peace and effectiveness. We can also dwell too much on the tragedies in our pasts and allow grief to take the joy from our present lives, or we can grieve and then move on. We can't change the past. The best we can do is start where we are and use the time we have now wisely. Possibly the best memorial we could give to our loved ones who have died is to live our lies as fully and well as possible and take every opportunity to do good.
Athletes learn to shake off the previous plays, whether good or bad. They do not worry about the plays ahead. Instead, to be effective, they must focus solely on the play at hand and do their best with it. Paul tells us to focus on Christ and keep pressing on.
Where are you living today? If anybody had a past that was hard to forget, it was Paul. Yet he concentrated on pressing on in the present, living in the moment, allowing God to use him where he was and as he was each day. Hopefully you and I will choose to do the same.
Father, may we put the past behind us and trust You for the future. May we live each moment of everyday with a sense of Your presence, Your peace, Your joy, and Your guidance. Amen.
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