Living into the Future

August 15, 2010

Background Scripture: Philippians 3:1 – 4:1
Lesson Passage: Philippians 3:4b – 16

Paul, as is characteristic of him in this letter, again admonishes the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord. The reason this time is the future that God has in store for Christians. There are some steps we should take in preparing our hearts to fully embrace a coming future with sincere joy. One of the most important steps is letting go of the past in preparation for the future. Sometimes nostalgia gets the best of us. We spend so much time reminiscing about the past that we become distracted in the present and totally detached mentally and emotionally from the future. It is difficult if not impossible to rejoice about the future while we spend an inordinate amount of time stuck in the past. The present, in a sense, liberates us from the past. The present is the gift of opportunity to start afresh. The best way to break free of the past is to live in the present moment with anticipation of a coming future.

Why, some may ask, should we want to break free of our past if it is filled with happiness and fond memories? The answer is simple. Our past may be filled with glorious achievements of which we could boast but it will not help us in eternity. I am a proponent of education but I will readily admit that education cannot help us in eternity. I enjoy the richness that life offers—especially those things that are well within our budget. None of those things will prosper us in eternity. Peter even warned a would-be disciple that his riches would perish with him. Perhaps the heart of the issue here is that our past keeps us connected to this world. This world is destined to be destroyed and replaced with a new world. Why stay connected with and long for condemned property? Our rejoicing should not be in yesterday but in the eternal future. Our past may keep us connected to this world but Christ connects us to the eternal future. Jesus did nothing during his brief ministry to suggest that he was trying in anyway to stay in this world forever. He was always clear that this world was not his home. He did not seek to possess physical treasures here. He instead called out a few that he trained and commissioned to go forth and call out the masses from the world into God’s own kingdom. This agenda brought him many enemies. Christians are to beware of the enemies of Christ for they have also become our enemies. Those that oppose Christ and his teachings also oppose his followers. They cannot and do not attack the future inheritance of the saints. They are more a distraction than a hindrance of the ministry of Jesus. Christians are to remain steadfast in their faith in Christ as we declare ourselves to be pilgrims in this world and anticipate living in the future.


Robert C. Hudson
July 29, 2010