did for you 30 or 40 years ago, constantly talking about “ the good old days," then you are looking far too much to the past. Doing this, you will never go forward. Some one has described old age as the point in life when a person ceases to look forward but rather con stantly looks back. That is not a very happy position to be in. There can be no progress without proper forgetting (verse 13). The second thing Paul tells us is that we need to fix our gaze on the many things Cod still wants to do in our lives. He was always “ reach ing forward unto those things which are before." When David Livingstone came back to England on furlough from many years in Africa, he was asked where he would be ready to go. His staunch reply, "I am ready to go anywhere, provided it is forward!" Such was Paul's answer, too. The Apostle did not spend a lot of time asking God to open doors, he simply ex pected that the Lord would. He purposed to go through them in stantly and as quickly as possible. Most people who read this third chapter of Philippians think natur ally of heaven when they read of "the prize of God's high calling." Paul was not just striving for a heavenly reward. He was pressing to one mark after another along the long race course of Christian living. We see that there is the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. Here was a dedicated pur pose to be conformed day-by-day to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was spiritual maturity which he desired. There was not just a single prize at the end of the road but many to be gained along the way. Do we run in life as
Paul did? We should reach forth to each new daily task before us. Cod is anxious to lead us onward in our experience and service for Him. This striving means effort and perseverance. It involves discipline and personal concentration. Such cannot take place if our minds are constantly cluttered up with the things of this life. If we are to en gage in that great struggle for Cod's best we must be prepared for a vigorous spiritual conflict. We must be prepared for this constant fight against the enemy and the spiritual, evil forces of this world. Paul calls them principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world. Our struggle is against evil but how thankful we can be that “ greater is He (the Holy Spirit) that is in us, than he (Satan) that is in the world." One of the primary purposes of Bible study is that we might con sider the personal examples set forth in Scripture to give us warn ing for the directions of our own life. Saul and Samson both got out of touch with the Lord. They al lowed their ego and pride to get the best of them. As a result their effectiveness for Cod was blunted. Many people who looked at them as leaders were doubtless disillu sioned. So is the danger of not fol lowing wholly after the Lord. We need to be careful that we do not spare our “well loved" sins, our favorite indulgences and habits. Doubtless the Spirit of God has spoken to us about these things again and again. We stand in great danger if we do not obey the Lord. Saul was told to destroy all that was of the Amalekites including their animals and even their sheep.
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