to the Lord. One of the things Paul did was to forget what had transpired in the past. There is a place for sanc tified forgetting as well as sancti fied remembering. What things are we to set out of our minds? Paul certainly did not forget his knowl edge of the Scriptures and the truths they contain for his epistles prove that. He certainly did not forget God's wonderful grace and bountiful mercies since this has been the theme of his letter to the Philippians. He strove for that kind of forgetting which occurs when we cease to let things in the past overshadow the present. When God let the children of Israel out of Egypt toward the promised land, He provided every thing they needed for their long journey^ They had shade by day and light by night. He gave them water to drink and manna to eat. Unfortunately, the time came when they became dissatisfied and looked back to their time in bond age, foolishly thinking that they had fared better in such circum stances (Numbers 11:5, 6). God taught them a great lesson by giv ing them quail until they got sick of it. The point of the illustration is that they looked back and failed to trust God for their present and fu ture blessings. What a warning this is for us today! We are to live for God to the fullest in the present. This is not to say that we are not always to be thankful for past blessings. Nor should we forget the depths of sin from which Christ rescued us. But there is not to be a morbid consumption with the events and deeds of the past. If your Christian testimony is entirely taken up with what God Page 51
Joseph and Mary lost a whole day of fellowship with Jesus be cause they expected Him, at the age of twelve, to be in their com pany. They evidently took for granted something of which they should have made sure. How sad to see the spontaneous glow and warmth of earlier days fade away and be forgotten. How long has it been since you really had fellow ship and communion with the Lord? Such love never counts the cost. There are those who may ques tion the possibility of living a life constantly in touch with the Lord. Yet, Scripture clearly shows the blessedness of those, who like Enoch, walked with God. Charles Haddon Spurgeon affirmed that in his many years he had not known more than a quarter of an hour out of fellowship with the Lord. When Mrs. J. Hudson Taylor was nearing death she turned to her husband and declared, "You know, for the past ten years, there has been no cloud between the Lord and me." What tremendous spir itual victory is possible. Such a life is not just a wistful mirage, but rather a glorious reality! It was never the point in Paul's life to boast of his own spiritual achievements. In fact, he purpose ly avowed that he had not attained the goals which he had set for himself in relation to a more inti mate knowledge of the Saviour (Philippians 3:13, 14). The apostle Paul probably checked himself to realize that there were things in his own life that he did not like. He wanted to make every possible effort, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit within, to see that he became what would be honoring
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs