Keep Moving Forward

Today's blog was contributed by David Trotta:

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)

I remember a very scary situation that occurred a number of years ago while watching my son’s high school football game.  One of the running backs on my son’s team took the handoff from the quarter back and ran forward, but instead of lowering his shoulder to meet the oncoming tackler bearing down on him, he slowed down and stood upright.  What happened next is something I will never forget.  The oncoming tackler saw the hesitation and vulnerability of the running back, so he proceeded to lower his helmet and hit the running back so violently that the noise of the impact could be heard across the field.  Everyone held their breath while the player was tended to on the field.  He was eventually helped off the field with a concussion, and I imagine, a super-sized headache.

Paul exhorts us to “press on” in the above verse.  The words “press on” mean to continue moving forward.  Think of it this way - the opposing players on the football field represent all the things in this world designed to keep us from our goal line - fulfilling God’s plan and purpose for our lives, and if we stop lowering our shoulder and pushing towards the goal, we will be knocked backwards, or worse - knocked out of the game.  That’s why Paul used the words “straining” and “pressing on” when describing how to attain the prize.

One of the traps as Christians is to think we have arrived.  We sit back and think “I know my bible pretty well; I pray often; I give regularly to the church,” but that mindset causes us to relax and let up in our pursuit of the goal, which makes us vulnerable and a prime target to be knocked down by the enemy.  Even Paul, a great scholar and church leader of his day, and the one who wrote the majority of the New Testament, said “I do not consider myself to yet to have taken hold of it.”  I’m sure that attitude kept him hungry and motivated him to keep pressing on no matter what.

A football player is never looking behind, but always moving forward with one thing in mind…crossing the goal line.  Let’s have that same determination, so at the end of our life, we can declare as Paul did - “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.” (2 Timothy 4:7).