You.

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. Philippians three, verses 13 and 14 I bought a couple of wall calendars weeks before Christmas. This is not my typical habit. I usually wait to purchase calendars until a week or two into the month of January because the miser in me knows that once the new year begins, the price is usually less. This year was different. I felt compelled to buy the calendars early before the new year started, and I didn't feel guilty buying them before they went on sale either. Maybe getting them early was an indication of my optimism about the year ahead. That I am anticipating good things to come. That I am making plans for the year. Plans that include staying at my post, doing what I'm called to do, and seeing each day as an opportunity for God to show up and do something yet unknown. I'm picky about the calendars I buy. I'm not simply interested in blank dates to be filled in with the points and plans. I'm also interested in the pictures on the calendar, pictures that I like to look at because they transport me to another time and place. Some of those pictures take me back to times I've already enjoyed in my life, times I'd gladly revisit and experience again. But many of the pictures take me to places I've not yet been to, places and experiences that are appealing to me, though I've not yet experienced them. Most of us would agree that the main purpose of a calendar is to point us toward what is ahead, not what is behind. The past, with good and bad is over and done. We can cherish the good experiences and turn our backs on the bad ones. In either case, and especially when it comes to mistakes made and bad things we've experienced. We literally have to put those things behind us and move forward. We can't keep beating ourselves up for mistakes we made. We should simply determine not to make those same mistakes in the future. And we can't keep dwelling on the unhappy experiences we went through, but need to be hopeful about better things that the Lord may have in store for us in the year to come. Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. God has called us forward. He never tells us to go backward. The past is just that, the past. Our hope is not in what was, but in what is yet to be. I hope that you are looking down the road, anticipating opportunities to serve the Lord with each new day and having the sense that the best things in your walk with the Lord are yet to come.

This has been your thought for the day with Steve Burkham, pastor of Community Christian Church in Stockton, California. If you have questions or comments for Pastor Steve, please send them to [email protected]. Have a great day, and we hope you'll join us tomorrow as Pastor Steve opens God's word to bring us another thought for the day.