How To Press On!
"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. 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."
(Philippians 3:13-14)
I have heard it said that the hardest place to be in the accomplishing of any difficult task is "half-way." You started out well, but half-way the task became very difficult and taxing. So much so that you considered giving up. Whether it was running a race, or completing a project, or whatever the task, you were ready to quit before you reached the end goal. How many of us have been there? We just felt like we couldn't go on.
Anyone who says that the Christian life is an easy life, has not experienced the pressures, the temptations, and struggles, that come from living a life that is going against the grain of the world.
In his letter to the church at Philippi, the apostle Paul talks about his new journey in this Christian walk. Prior to the words of our text, Paul talks about how he gave all the things of the world, that he held as proorities, and now he says:"But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ."
(Philippians 3:8)
In our text he goes on to say that he has not apprehended what Jesus wants him to be in Him, and do for Him, (Which may be like being half-way) "But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. "I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."(v.14)
What the apostle Paul learned, and we can learn too, is that when the road of this life we are called to, gets rough and rugged, and we feel like we cannot go the rest of the way; Jesus who is our Shepherd will lead us to where we need to be. He will take care of us along the way, and see to it, that we arrive safely to our heavenly forever home. What must we do? Press On!