I Press On

To say that I am not the most athletic person on the face of the planet is understating my situation by a longshot. However, I did have a brief track career running the mile in Middle School. And I don't mean to brag but there was once or twice that I didn't come in last. Stand and be amazed! Running the mile is not the easiest race to run either. You have to find a good and steady pace and push through a lot of pain to outrun your opponents. My dad gave me a good bit of advice in running this race. He said "Matt, just give up." Kidding, he didn't say that but he did say, "Breathe through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Then pick a point on the field and fix your eyes on it and don't look away from it." It turns out, that was really good advice.

I was reminded of that piece of advice when I was reading through Philippians 3:13-14 the other day.

13"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,"

• Having Laid Hold of It – Paul does not consider himself as having arrived. But arrived at what? What is it that Paul has not yet grasped? In lieu of the previous discussion (v8) it would seem that Paul is talking about the value of knowing Christ. Knowing Him, for Paul, was not just head knowledge because he made it very clear in verses 2-6 that at one time his intellectual knowledge was superior to anyone’s but more about a relationship with the Jesus he had come to know. He was still pursuing an active relationship with Christ that would only be perfected when he saw Him face to face at the resurrection. That relationship was being perfected through suffering and consequently knowing the power of His resurrection. Because you can’t fully understand real life until you know what death is. So it is important to Paul in this passage that the reader realizes that even though Paul has had superior training, mountaintop experiences and has endured extreme suffering for the sake of Christ, He has not attained some “special knowledge” about Christ. In Christianity there is no “nirvana” that you can achieve. It is a constant work in progress.

• Forgetting is the opposite of remembering . I know, I’m brilliant right? But think about this, remembering from a biblical perspective is an active, intentional act. It is not incidental. I will repeat that. Remembering is intentional not incidental. You set aside times to remember. You make a point out of doing it. So if forgetting is the opposite of that, you don’t actually wipe your memory clean do you? The memory is still there but you need to take an active part in forgetting. You set aside times to forget. You don’t hold grudges, you set those aside. You don’t blame people for setting you back, you forget all of that nonsense! There may be real pain in your past (abuse, neglect or wrongdoing) but you must set those things aside (learning from them) and move on to the next part of this passage, so that you can truly know what it means to reach the prize.

• Reaching is essential in seeing fruit in the Christian life. Of course you can’t get here until you have realized the above two. That you will never fully attain some level of perfection. Consequently you must also forget things that might hold you back from your true focus. In Scripture that is called “sin”. Hebrews tells us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.” When we do that we can “run with perseverance the race marked out for us, “ (Hebrews 12:1).

14 press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

• I press on! Once you are resolute in what the goal is, you can begin to pursue it whole heartedly. There will be times, as Paul was well aware of, that you will be met with resistance. Whether it is your schedule, difficult people or even your own flesh, you can be sure that it will happen. When those times come, you must push forward. You are caught in the grip of master passion and no substitutes will quench your thirst once you truly realize this. The perfect job will not suffice, a relationship with a significant other cannot satisfy, and financial goals are useless unless they are all put into subjection to your one major passion which is to KNOW Jesus and make Him known to others.

The verb that Paul uses here for “press” is dioko which means to “hunt” or pursue”. It by no means is a passive act. You don’t do this in your free time, this is your entire schedule! This verb is also used when talking about a foot race. When running a race, your goal is to win right? So when you get to the finish line you will lean in to the finish line to get that half a second that is necessary to win over your opponent. The gospel is to be pursued like a race (1 Cor. 9:24). You must go after it. There is training involved, there are times when it is tough to keep going. When that happens you have to do what my dad said at the beginning. No, not the breathing through the nose part. You have to fix your eyes at a point, that point is Jesus because He is the prize (Hebrews 12:2).

The prize is already but not yet. It is knowing Christ in this life and looking forward to the time when you will see Him face to face. You have to have both of those to endure successfully. Knowing Christ here and now will make you useful to others (salt and light). Realizing that the community here and God’s kingdom here is not perfect will help you stay sane! In the end it comes down to realizing you haven’t arrived, forgetting what’s behind, reaching forward to what’s ahead. Then, in times when it gets difficult, PRESS ON to win the race. God bless.