Pressing On Toward the Goal

Philippians 3:13-14. Paul says he does not consider himself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing he does: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, he presses on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called him heavenward in Christ Jesus.

It is striking that Paul, of all people, says he has not arrived. He has planted churches across the empire and seen the risen Christ, and he still describes himself as a runner mid-course, leaning forward, not looking back. The image is from the stadium. A sprinter who turns to check the field loses the race.

July begins today. The first half of the year is behind, with whatever you did well and whatever you did not. Paul's counsel is not to deny it but to stop staring at it. The prize is ahead. The call is upward. Lean that way.