A continual looking forward to the eternal world is not a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next.
~C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in Philippians 3
Oh beloved, it is true. Each of us has had some significant baggage to lay down and leave behind. There are pains and losses and hurts and circumstances and failures and betrayals that lay behind us, as the wreckage of a life lived apart from Him unfolded.
Then, one day, we were walking down the road and breathing threats towards those who we disagreed with and those we did not understand – and He invaded our lives with His Love and Light. We, like all before us who have been slain and made alive again by His Spirit, were drawn up short and asked why we have kicked against the proddings He had been making in our life for so long.
There was no argument, for the manifold wisdom and grace and power and immense Love we face brooks no resistance. We just come undone on the road and collapse. We simply weep and hurt and moan at the death we have just left behind. We are weak and raw. How could we ever get up?
And in that moment, He lays His hand on us and says, “Arise child, you are whole now. Real. Do you see the Light ahead of you?”
“Yes L_RD!”
“Run towards it. Don’t stop. And don’t look back. I will give you everything you need to reach it one Day.”
And so we do, and so He does give us everything we need. It is an amazing journey. A journey full of suffering which yields the joy-borne strength of His presence with us. Journey is not really the word. Odyssey is more like it, and a glorious one at that. All along the way He is with us, and the Light simply grows brighter with every step. Our past, is in the past.
There are a few moments where we are sometimes tempted to look over our shoulder to see the path we have been on, and those moments are actually sometimes encouraging. However, there are other moments where we wonder if we are going in the right direction. And so, in fear or doubt or some other stupid thing, we glance back, only to see our shadow and the wreckage of the past falling ever further into the distance.
Can we see it? Those shadows are only good for one thing. They need to be directly behind us. For when they are, they tell us we are headed directly into the Light. So, glance over your shoulder if you need to once in a while, but don’t turn around. Just use them as a reference point for your journey Home.
Run to the Light beloved. Just run until you have to walk. Then run again.
Take my life.
I draw no protective line around anything that needs to go.
