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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)
In our walk with God, we never stop learning. If we think we have “arrived” spiritually and stop walking with God in prayer and study of His word, then we will deteriorate and slip back into becoming like the rest of the world. It’s so easy to slip back into the ditch from which we came.
When we come back from the “backslidden” position, it’s often harder to recover the position that we once had, and the struggle to regain it is so much harder. The first time I lost weight by relying on faith, the weight shed from me like melted butter, and it was so easy to follow the Lord. But this time, it’s a struggle, but amazingly I’m finding myself closer to Him than I ever was before!
If Paul in this letter can say that he’s still working on and still pressing forward, than think about how much farther we need to go before we have “arrived.” Heavenward is the word that he uses to describe his goal.
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
If my focus is on my budding relationship with Jesus, and I seek His kingdom first, then everything else will fall into place. This bond that I am building with my Jesus needs to be so strong that no reward system becomes more important than the friendship and love that we share. The weight and the freedom from addiction that I know He will help me with will come in His time. For now my faith needs to be focused on learning and being teachable, realizing that there is no “arrival” point on this Earth.
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