Regarding, Forgetting, Reaching and Pressing. 

by: Carole L. Haines

Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 
(Colossians 3:1-3) 

I just got to say, the earth sure has a pull to it and I’m not talking gravitational. I can really relate to the Apostle Paul’s assessment of himself when he says: 

“For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice  

the very evil that I do not want.” (Romans 7:19 NASB) 

I am so glad that the Apostles were honest about their flaws and sins. I like to think of these struggles as signature sins, those habits we fall back into when we start to slip. I have wrestled with a couple of these my whole life. It’s so hard not to get discouraged sometimes. But Jesus is faithful and when we cry out to Him, He comes and like the good shepherd He is, brings us back again. I look forward to being free of these things when I am in heaven with Jesus. How about you? Do you have any struggles that you will be glad to be rid of forever when you go up to the golden streets above?  
We tend to see the underside of our stories, the back of the needlepoint cloth. We see the knots, the hanging strings, the missed stitches.  But Jesus sees us from up above, as the beautifully finished work that we are becoming. Truly, as our opening Scripture says, “our lives are hidden with Christ in God.”  
Paul again gives us a glimpse into how he overcame his regret in being a former persecutor of the church, etc. He teaches us how to walk out of our own regret and shame. 

Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14 NASB) 

Paul gives us his four-step dance moves, which brought him out of regret and into more fruitfulness. We can follow his example and walk out of ours too. Here they are:

1) I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet 

2) Forgetting what lies behind 

3) Reaching forward to what lies ahead 

4) I press on toward the goal 

Since our lives are hidden with Christ in God, we really do not know our impact for his Kingdom in this life. And since our signature sins sneak in from time to time, let us simply choose to let these realities remind us to keep setting our minds on things above, where Christ is. We will follow the Apostle Paul’s four-step, and dance right into the freedom which Christ won for us on the cross. We can practice regarding, forgetting, reaching, and pressing.  
Lord Jesus, we want to love you with our lives, trust you with our shortcomings, reach for you in our times of need, and worship you simply for who You are. Our lives are hidden in You, and that is enough for us to know. We decree, “Jesus you are simply enough.”