If you… begin to find that the Holy Spirit is scrutinizing you, let his searchlight go straight down, and he will not only search you, he will put everything right that is wrong; he will make the past as though it had never been.
~Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 3:7-14
We all get (i hope, beloved!) that resentment is out of the question when it comes to living a life totally surrendered to Christ. Holding on to old negative memories and re-feeling their impact is a dangerous game for any person who claims that they have given up their right to hold grudges, or that they are living in an attitude of forgiveness towards all people.
But it hit me yesterday… It goes even further than this. We don’t get to hold onto any memories. Even positive ones.
Jesus wants all of us. We cannot – ever – live in the past, and simultaneously love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength as Scripture commands. Don’t get me wrong, i make no claim that we must abandon any recollection of the past. Rather, i am saying that, while we can experience the past – we cannot try to possess the past or let the past possess us.
One danger lies in the potential for us to try and extract comfort now from our past experiences, rather than from the Source of Comfort Himself. When we live in a dream of the past, we miss the wide-awake, right now potential for G_d to fill us with His strength, joy and purpose for this current moment.
Said simply, in Christ, we no longer own our past any more than we own our future. It is all His, to use for His purposes. Our only job is to abide right now, in the infinite-eternal present – and to allow Him to deal with everything else outside of now.
Our memories and experiences have brought us to this moment. REJOICE in that. But then, leave the past where it belongs: behind us. Travel light. Keep short accounts. Trust Him to fulfill our needs right now.
