'Pressing On'

Post by James Oliver

John 3:16, probably one of the most recognised, famous, used and quoted passage of the Bible, for it tells us "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (NIV)


And indeed this is true, for when we gave our lives to Christ we secured our place in Heaven and never needed to worry about anything ever again, in the way we lived or acted towards oneself and others, for we already knew we were heading to Heaven when we passed...wrong.


None of us are perfect, none of us can say that we abide by all our Lord God shares with us throughout the Bible, however just because we know we're going to Heaven doesn't mean we just sit back and wait, watch the world go by, sit in listening to news bulletins of war breaking out or natural disasters tearing whole cities apart, absolutely not. 

In Philipians 3:12 - 21, Paul speaks on Pressing on Toward the Goal. Verses 12 - 16 say the following "Not that I have already obtained all of this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I don 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. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained".


I wish to speak on verse 16 in particular, for we must live up to what we have already attained, now that don't mean packing a suitcase and booking the next flight to a thrid world country in order to help spread God's word (would be awesome if you did that, but first you're going to need a plan of action).
We are not perfect, but that's why God took hold of us, so as to slowly sculpt and mould us into His image, if we were perfect then there would be nothing He could do with us as we would be flawless human beings, and how boring would that be becuase then we would be missing out on all God wants to share with us and reveal to us. Even through hardships, trials and troubles God still continues to shape us, He doesn't look at the situation and think "Oh he or she is going through a rough patch at the moment, I'll come back later". No, God stays with us always, and sometimes in times of trial is when God reveals Himself to us the most as we're reliant on His strength to carry us through the storm to saefty.


Philipians 2:12 - 13 says "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed - not only in my prsence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out you salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose".
Being a Christian is not an easy life, it is a life filled with constant trials and tribulations, but with the help of God's word, and prayer, and with the help of our fellow friends and family we can push on towards our goal and this goal can not be achieved by oursleves, for I myself have tried to go it alone but even in those times God found me and I thank Him and love Him for it. 

So it's not about and never will be about how far we've come on our journey. What matters is where we're going. It's not about trying to be the best or have the most intellect. What matters is what we're doing with what God's given us. It's not about looking back and all you've done in the past. What matters is looking forward towards the goal and smiling at what all God is going to do for you in the future. And remembering all He has done for you already.


Doesn't matter how long we have been saved, for we can have confidence in knowing (even through the hardships) that we are not who we once were thanks to God. But we are still to become what we've been called to be. 

God bless.