Daily Affirmations - Day 6 - Fixing Our Eyes - Pressing On
- Alisa B.
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Day 6: Pressing on
...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).
While we live we must be moving on. When we stop we begin to die. Rest is necessary, but only to renew our strength that we may press on again...
We must not allow a narrow occupation to dwarf our souls. Our work itself is valuable and noble, and though we may find it mundane, there is no shame in honest labor—we should apply ourselves with zest and enthusiasm, as service to the Lord (Ephesians 6:7).
But while we faithfully do our.. duty, we should never permit our minds to stagnate or shrivel, but continually train ourselves into larger things. Instead of hugging our little mountains and never going off the old paths, we should “turn northward” and find delight in new fields...
We belong to God, and we should seek the things of God... Paul teaches us [this] lesson in a remarkable passage in one of his epistles.
He gives us a glimpse of the perfect life in Christ, a life that culminates in being glorified with Him in heaven. Paul says frankly that he has not yet attained the perfection of that realm, but he does not regard it as unattainable... “I press on...”
He was writing from prison at this point, but prison walls were no barrier to his progress... The two words which contain the secret of his noble career were “forgetting” and “reaching.”
There were certain things which he forgot... “Forgetting the things which are behind.” It is true that... we are constantly exhorted to remember, and urgently counseled not to forget. It is perilous to forget many things—to forget God or His commandments.
We are not to forget our past sinful condition, lest we grow proud. We are not to forget God’s goodness and mercy, lest our love shall grow cold.
But there is another sense in which our only hope is in forgetting. We never can get on to higher things if we insist on clinging to our past and carrying it with us. We can make progress only by forgetting. We can go forward only by leaving behind what is past..
We are ever being called to a new life, a holier life, a larger life of better service... Break away from... routine... ...Start out in new lines, with your face toward God.
Do larger things than you have done before. Pray more fervently. Love better, more sweetly, more helpfully. Let Christ have all your life. Do not merely go round the mountain’s base—climb upward! Every time you compass it, gain a little higher range, get nearer heaven, nearer God.
~ James R. Miller, Go Forward
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