Jump Start # 830

Philippines 3:13-14 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul’s wonderful passage has been the text of many sermons. It deals with attitude and direction. The past is left and what lies ahead is sought. Great thoughts. Hard to do.

Last night, I spent some time cleaning up my I-pad. I had several apps that I never used and was running out of space. It was time to toss out what I didn’t need. I moved things around and got it streamlined the way I wanted it. Now that it’s Spring, we do the same with our closets. We toss out the clothes we rarely wear any more, move things around and when we are done, it looks amazing.

It’s a shame that we struggle to do the same with our hearts. We tend to horde things in our hearts that often makes us feel miserable. We keep guilt. We can’t get rid of emotional pain. We hold on to the unkind things people have said. We remember how people let us down. We fail to forgive ourselves. All of this clutter and junk just makes our hearts heavy. It’s too much for anyone to carry about, but we do. Some friends were moving their mother out of her house into a new place. They were going to have a yard sale. Downsizing. As the grown kids were putting items out for the sale, grandma followed them and put the things back into the house. She wasn’t ready to part with the things, even though she hadn’t used them in years. We smile at such things but find ourselves doing the same things when it comes to our hearts.  We travel through life with a lot of baggage that is unnecessary simply because we can’t part with the past.

Clinging to the past hinders our progress. It slows us down. It keeps us from advancing. These truths we realize, but we still struggle with this.

Paul had a past. Part of it was excelling as a Jew. He would have been an amazing rabbi. His past also included trying to stamp out Jesus’ church. He was good at that. He was feared by the Christians. But all of that changed. A vision on the road to Damascus. A Bible study with a preacher. A change of heart. A new understanding. A baptism for remission of sins. A new life. A new future. A new purpose. Paul had a lot of luggage from the past. Our verse reminds us that he left those things. No regrets. No looking back. No holding on. No second guessing. No what if’s. No painful nightmares.

How does a person do it? Our past is part of us. Our past has shaped us and defined us.

• Forgiveness is the first step. Understanding that God blots out our sins, our story has changed. I saw a service van recently when I was driving. It was bright green and only had one sentence on the back. No company name. No logo. No phone number. The sentence said, “Like it never even happened.” That was the motto of a company that restores your house after water damage. They would return everything to the way it was. When they were done, it would be “Like it never even happened.” I like that. That’s forgiveness. Gone. Like it never happened. Why do we want to hang on to things that God has released? Let it go. Learn from your sins and mistakes but don’t keep them around in the china cabinet of your heart. Toss them.

• Forgiving others is the next step. There have been many hurts, disappointments and frustrations with other people. Some have said unkind things about you. Some have gossiped. Some have hurt your feelings on purpose. Why keep those things in your heart? It’s like keeping old banana peels? UGH. Toss them. Remove them. Like banana peels, those things start smelling after a while. The more we think about those hurts, the more upset we become. What if they won’t apologize? What if they are not the least bit sorry? What if they are glad we are hurt? Still toss it. It’s not doing you any good. Those thoughts lead to bitterness, hatred and evil. Let God deal with them. The longer you keep the hurts around, the longer it will take for you to be what you should.

• Move forward. That’s what Paul did. He forgot the past, but he also pressed on. God had plans for him. Heaven was in his future. Get busy in the kingdom. Think forward not backward. Help others. Connect with God and brethren.

When I see that Paul was able to do these things, it tells me that we can do the same. Maybe it’s time to do some Spring cleaning in your heart? Sometimes trying to figure out what to keep and what to toss is hard. Pray about it. Get rid of the junk. Lighten your load. You’ll be better as a result.

Roger