Put it Out of Mind

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 (NIV)

If you had a magic wand and could rid yourself of one thing, what would it be?

Without hesitation, I would zap my inability to fully live in the promises and hope I have because of Jesus Christ.

Now, you may be wondering why I would need a magic wand to be able to live like someone who has nothing to lose and everything to gain. The truth is I don’t need the magic wand, it would just be easier with it. Otherwise, I have to do the hard work of dealing with those things that keep me from the life Jesus wants me to have.

Let me explain…

Because of my childhood, I’m never able to fully revel in and enjoy any good news or good times. I learned at a very young age that peace and happiness were extremely short-lived and I had to always be on guard because it was just a matter of time before the other shoe dropped.  I had to always be braced so that when it happened it wouldn’t hurt.

In my case, the other shoe was my alcoholic stepfather’s rage. No matter how much I anticipated and felt prepared for it though, it still hurt. And when you live your life with any amount of fear and pain always present, you can’t really know what joy is. You can’t know real happiness.

This is where the magic wand would be great! I could just give it a little wave and poof! I could rid myself of the weight of those memories and the thought patterns they etched into my brain. Then, I would be able to experience joy and happiness when they came my way without secretly wondering when the horrible thing that is going to ruin them will happen.

A magic wand would be awesome! But we all know there is no such thing. Yet, we are not left without help in ridding ourselves of our stinking thinking. As it applies to what we are studying today, stinking thinking is those thoughts we have that aren’t filtered through the lens of God’s Word.

There are probably as many reasons for stinking thinking as there are people and it may seem Captain Obvious-like to say, but I believe our stinking thinking grew its roots in our past; whether our past is defined by something done to us or something we did.

Consider this…

Today our key verses come to us from Apostle Paul. If you don’t know Paul’s history, he was a Pharisee and a zealous persecutor of Christians. That is until Jesus came to him on the road to Damascus and Paul converted to Christianity. Before this conversion though, Paul was responsible for the brutal treatment and imprisonment of both men and women who believed in Jesus Christ. It is an understatement to say that Paul was a staunch defender of the Jewish religion. Acts 9:1 tells us that he breathed out “murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.”

As we can see, Paul and I both have a past—mine is defined by something done to me and his is defined by something he did—but our key verses today tell us that he didn’t let his past keep him from Jesus and what Jesus promises.

Just exactly how did he do that? How did he keep the memories of the violence he incited towards God’s people from robbing him of his relationship with Jesus?

Well, it wasn’t with a magic wand!

Let’s look at Philippians 3:13, which says, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead…”

The Greek word translated here as “forgetting” doesn’t mean losing memory of something.  It means to put something out of mind.  In other words, Paul didn’t dwell on the past.  He didn’t keep looking back because he wasn’t going that way. He was going forward…to Heaven…to be with Christ.

Paul’s encounter with the living Messiah on the road to Damascus changed not only his physical vision (Acts 9:8) but also his spiritual vision. With the same zeal he once pursued and persecuted Christians, he now pursued knowing and growing in Christ and he eagerly anticipated the day he would see Him face-to-face.

To me, it seems Paul was so sold out for Jesus that he chose to leave behind who he was and what he did prior to coming to faith in Jesus. He didn’t forget who he once was or what he did as that person, but after experiencing the reality of Jesus Christ, he longed to be more like Him; always pressing on towards the goal of the prize (v.14).  He longed to be with Jesus and because of this longing, he knew he had to put his past out of mind because that wasn’t his life anymore. He had been given a new life in the living Messiah.

Perhaps Paul could put his past out of mind because after encountering Jesus he learned that…

Our past doesn’t give us a future. Jesus does.

Holding on to our past doesn’t set us free. Jesus does.

Reliving our past doesn’t take away the pain of what we did or what was done to us. Jesus does.

Our past doesn’t define who we are. Jesus does.

Friend, Paul didn’t make a one-time decision to put his past out of mind and press on towards the goal. He made that decision every day. Every day he renewed his mind by focusing on the truth of Jesus Christ and just what that truth means for those who believe in Him.

When we renew our minds—choose to see our life through the lens of God’s Word instead of through pictures of our past—only then can we zealously pursue Jesus and the life we have in Him. Only then can we silence the lies our past tells us and embrace the truth Jesus speaks over us.

What voice will you listen to today?