Introduction:
Kobe Bryant is attributed as one of the best basketball players to have ever played the game, if not the best. He is praised for his clutch shooting toward the end of basketball games and many iconic game-winning shots. However, I believe one of the things that made Kobe so good at basketball was the fact that he would keep shooting the ball no matter how bad he had been playing. Kobe missed 14,481 shots in his career. That is 1,064 more than any other NBA player ever! Those moments of victory in his career are peppered with small blunders all around them, but he never let those blunders or misses derail him from what lies ahead.
Philippians 3:12-16
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Think about it:
There is a saying, “the best basketball players have the shortest memory.” I believe this is true for basketball, but I also believe this to be true for the believer as well. Paul starts this passage by saying that he is not perfect. There is a reason that Paul calls himself the “chief of all sinners” in 1 Timothy. The one thing he does though is this, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.” Jesus has erased your past sins and is calling you forward to kingdom business. Paul finishes by saying what lies ahead is the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Take away:
Press on in your faith and lean into Jesus.
Personal reflection:
Are you abandoning what the Lord has before you because you are still enslaving yourself from your past? If so, why do you think you hold onto those mistakes while the Lord has already forgiven you and is calling you forward?