Faith & Insight: Remember, but press on!

Remember the days of old,” Moses wrote. It’s good to reflect upon the goodness of God, to reminisce about his many blessings. My heart is filled with joy every time I hear my 86-year-old father recollect his many blessings. His has been, and continues to be, an abundant life, a rich and joyful life.

The secret to such a life is contentment and a heart that’s grateful for what it has. The grateful person remembers “the days of old” and forgets not a single blessing of God.

Of course, no one can live in the past, but we can from the past learn. We can learn from past failures and successes, from the bad and the good. We ought not to romanticize the past and ask, “Why were the old days better than these?” They weren’t always better and they certainly weren’t better for everyone.

The past has swallowed up 2017 and 2018 beckons. Let’s fix our eyes upon Jesus and run the race that’s set before us. The Apostle Paul’s words inspire us, “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.”

“Don’t look back,” Satchel Paige declared, “something may be gaining on you.” For Paige, that “something” was age. Many a runner has lost the race, having looked back and been eclipsed by the foe. Like Lot’s wife, many have been stopped dead in their tracks by the backward focus. Jesus said, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Now 2018 has arrived and with it another year of possibilities. Let’s fix our eyes upon Jesus and run, strain and press on toward the goal! With the Lord’s help, 2018 may prove to be the best year ever!

Ken Haskins is pastor of First Christian Church in Carson City.