I am a lover of history. I have not always been. In elementary school I struggled so much with learning the dates and events which seemed meaningless to me. My youthful mind could not possibly see any value at all to memorizing the past. When I entered high school I had a wonderful history teacher by the name of Betty Ware. She was a devote Christian even though she taught in public school. God used her to bring purpose into my learning. Of course, like so many still today, I was not aware that history repeats itself and we must learn from the past so we can avoid tragedy in the future. In fact, a believer will never make full sense out of the New Testament until he has a serious study of the Old Testament. Truly they go hand in hand.
But we find our beloved apostle Paul writing, (Phil 3:13-14) “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” This seems a contradiction to our premise that we should find value in the past. After all, we are admonished in the Old Testament to follow the “old paths.” Why does Paul appear to take a different stance? I believe that it is because Paul observed some who were living in the old life of failure, broken dreams, heartaches and sorrows. Such things inhibit spiritual growth and progress. Old failures are to be repented of, forgiven, the record set straight, so they will not impede us from the blessings of walking with Christ.
Each day as we have our personal time with the Lord in Bible devotions and prayer, we must allow the Word to wash us, live it fresh each moment. Every believer must make a decision to choose the past or the future as their vision for a new day. Take tomorrow over yesterday.
