STILL PRESSING ON

Many of us know that sprinters in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400-meter relay races are trained to never look back once the baton is in their hand. Their eyes are locked on what’s in front of them—the one to whom they’ll pass off the baton or the finish line. They know that looking back is a powerful encumbrance to claiming that higher ground called “victory.”

Running with a forward focus is urged in Luke 9:62 and Hebrews 12:1, among other passages. The former verse even declares those unfit who keep looking back at an unchangeable past. Inasmuch as our Lord is not an advocate of the backward look, neither should we be.

If this is a habit we have not yet mastered, we will find ourselves encountering too many setbacks, possibly becoming mired in some bitterness and regrets, unnecessary sadness and revisiting long-passed seasons of disappointment! Who needs “weights” of THAT sort retarding their spiritual progress, eclipsing what God gave up His Son to accomplish in us, through us, and for us?

No, dear one, God desires so much more for His children. Begin today the discipline of not looking back.

PRAYER: Dear Father, help my life to sing the lyrics of that classic hymn: “I’m pressing on the upward way; new heights I’m gaining every day…Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.” Thank You, in Jesus’ name. Amen!
By Sis. Denise T. Diggs