Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3:12
Heading Toward the Goal
Where are you headed? That may be a simple question, but it is an important one. Every day, we are headed somewhere. We have appointments to keep, work to finish, errands to run, and places to go.
The same is true of our life with Jesus. The apostle Paul wrote, “I press on.” He knew where he was headed. Yet Paul was also honest enough to admit that he had not arrived. He had not already obtained everything God had promised. That is good news for us because we have not arrived either.
Sometimes we may look at our Christian life and become discouraged. We still struggle with the same sins. We still lose our patience. We still worry. We still put ourselves first. We still fail to love God and our neighbor as we should. If our goal were perfection by our own effort, we would have no hope.
But notice Paul’s reason for pressing on: “because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”
Jesus is the reason we keep going. The Christian life is not a race in which we run fast enough to earn God’s love. Jesus has already accomplished what we could never accomplish. He lived the perfect life we have failed to live. He died on the cross to forgive our sins. He rose from the grave to give us the certain hope of eternal life. Through faith, we belong to him.
That changes how we travel toward the goal. We do not press on to become Christ’s own. We press on because we already are Christ’s own.
So today, keep heading toward the goal. When you stumble, hear God’s promise of forgiveness. When you become discouraged, look again to the cross. When you are tempted to turn aside, listen to Jesus’ Word and follow him. When the road seems long, remember where you are going.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, keep my eyes on the finish line as I follow you through life. Amen.
