Dr. Sam Kannampally

It was Pope Gregory XIII, in 1582, fixed a date soon after the winter solstice to mark the beginning of a new year, the date from which a new revolution of the earth around the sun would be measured.

The start of a new year announces that whatever our experiences of the past year, another year has been subtracted from our lives on this earth. Time marches on and we are getting closer and closer to our greater destiny, our lives beyond this earth. The first few weeks of the New Year are, therefore, an appropriate time to review the past, analyze the present, and set goals for the future. For many, the past year may be one they would prefer to forget. Death, sickness, and disappointments have invaded their lives. But many others in the midst of similar circumstances can tell of God’s beautiful work in their lives.

“The one thing I do is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead...“(Phil. 3:13)
Paul wrote those words from prison. He had been arrested in Jerusalem, detained for two years in Caesarea, and was then sent to Rome to await trial before the emperor. After four years of his freedom being denied him, this amazing missionary now says he's still setting goals, pressing on to things that are ahead of him. The picture here is that of an Olympic foot-race. In such a race you don’t look back at the ground covered but, rather, you press on towards the finish-line. In fact looking back can be disastrous.

What is it that Paul wants to forget? We find three categories in his letters. He wants to forget his handicaps, move on from his failures, and not rest on his past successes and achievements.
First, in his second letter to the Corinthians, he lists the handicaps and discouragements he faced that would have knocked lesser competitors out of the race altogether (2 Cor. 11:23-29). He also had a physical problem - a 'thorn in the flesh' - to keep him from becoming too proud (2 Cor. 12:7). In spite of these, Paul fulfilled God’s purpose for his life. John Milton, author of “Paradise Lost” and “Paradise Regained,” Fanny Crosby, the famous writer of over 3,000 hymns, and Louis Braille, inventor of the Braille writing system for the blind, each of whom suffered from the terrible handicap of blindness, moved past their handicaps to achieve great things for God.

You might have heard about the story of Franklin Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States. At the age of 39, polio struck Franklin Roosevelt. He couldn't stand or walk without support. Hour after hour he'd crawl over his library floor like a child, and day after day he'd haul his weight up the stairs by the power of his hands and arms, step by step, slowly, until he was tired. But after this illness Roosevelt's name became synonymous with help to the downtrodden, the weak, the helpless, and the fearful. His biographer John Gunther says that “polio was God's greatest gift to Franklin Roosevelt.” “Adversity is one of our greatest teachers. God polishes his jewels that way,” says Dr. Songster.

Secondly, Paul wanted to forget his failures. Philippians 3:6 mentions the biggest of all - his persecution of the church. What dramatic irony! Since his about-face turn on the Damascus road he sought to build up what he once set out to destroy!

Some who have “tried the Christian life” and found “it didn't work,” have remained in their spiritual failure. And like the prodigal son they're sitting in the pig-sty in a distant land when they could be enjoying the hospitality of the Father's home. Life's greatest tragedy, the greatest disaster, is not in falling down, it's in staying down when you fall. “Forgetting those things that are behind,” says Paul. If you want to succeed you must be prepared to fail.

Paul also had to move beyond his successes. He lists his inherited Jewish privileges (Philipians 3:5) and his Jewish attainments (3:5-6). But when he met Christ all these things proved useless. He realized that earning merit with God through trying to keep all the laws leads only to failure and despair. Salvation is something received, not earned.

Our task is to grow beyond past successes. As one writer put it: “The minute you get satisfied with what you've got the concrete has begun to set in your head.” “We've got to treat those two impostors - success and failure - the same way,” said Rudyard Kipling.

When Paul wrote these words he had some ultimate goals (Philipians 3:8-14). He wanted to know Christ and be found in Him. When you press towards your ultimate goals you don't have to apologize for your handicaps, your failures, or your successes.