Is your life today based on your past or your future?
It is an exciting day to be a Boston Red Sox fan. As we look a week ago in the past, there were few people who actually believed the Red Sox would be where they are today. After all, they were down 3-1 to the Cleveland Indians. They had lost 3 in a row, and they didn't look particularly good in those losses. Most people looked at the situation and thought it would be the Indians facing the Colorado Rockies in the World Series. (Even those of us who are considered people of faith!) Not that we thought it impossible to see a comeback, especially after 2004. But sometimes we look only at our current circumstances in light of our most recent history, whether good or bad.
While there are valuable and important lessons to learn from the past, how we live today and look to tomorrow cannot be ruled by the past.
". . . 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 3:13-14
The apostle Paul tells us to be on guard that we don't live our today in the past, whether it be past victories or past defeats.
Those who live in past victories will become content and will not pursue or tackle the next challenge. "I've already experienced victory, why take the chance that I might lose the next time?" This can also apply spiritually. You may have experienced God doing wonderful things in you and through you in the past. When you speak of spiritual things, do you only reflect of those things that happened long ago? What about today? Will not the Living God work today? I believe He will. So don't let the past victories keep you from pressing on toward the goal that Christ still has set before you. There is so much more.
Those who live in past defeats will have difficulty believing that they will achieve anything in the future. Some will allow a "victim" mentality to excuse them from even trying to live a life that is fulfilling and is beneficial to people around them. While there certainly are defeats and hurts in our past that run deep, God wants to give us hope for our future.
"For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11
God doesn't want you to let your past dictate your future. He has a plan that He has put together specifically for you, and if you know Christ (which is the ONLY way to come to the Father) then you have hope for your future.
Many times God wants to teach us spiritual lessons from our life's experiences. If the Red Sox let their past rule their future they would not be where they are today. They would have either been content with their victory in 2004, or they wouldn't have had the hope that they could win another game. They would not have experienced the excitement of coming back 4-3 without being down.
Today is a new day. Will you look to Christ to direct your future starting with today? No matter what has occurred in your past, you can live today making right choices. Making right choices today, will lead you to the right future, the one God has prepared just for you.
