Go For the Prize!



Philippians 3:12 "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. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

 Many of us set goals in our lives to accomplish things that are important to us.  Examples are: running a marathon, finishing a field of study, earning a degree, raising healthy children, losing weight etc..  

 But one thing is for sure, if we don't set goals we will not achieve the things we want to accomplish.  Once we have a goal, we need a plan to map out the steps necessary to reach our goal.  Without a plan to achieve our goal it is more like a "pipe dream".  Finally, unless we work the plan we have little to no likelihood of reaching our goal.  

 Paul's goal was to become like Jesus Christ.  He knew he was not Jesus, but wanted to become like him in this life, as he prepared to meet Jesus in the next life.  Paul had skeletons in his closest like all of us. He persecuted and even supervised the killing of Christians.  He was prideful of all of his accomplishments and pedigree as a religious Jew, Pharisee who was from the tribe of Benjamin.  But when he met Jesus he realizes it is all "rubbish" compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ.  

 So Paul realizes since the things he used to live for had no eternal value, he forgot what was behind him and gave his all for what lie ahead.  Paul says his goal was to win the "prize".  This is a word used for a winner of the Greek races.  It was a wreath that went around the winner's head.  Paul translates this is into the goal of becoming like Christ until God called him home to win the ultimate prize eternal life with Him.

 Earthly goals if they are the right ones have value in this life, but the most important goal we have if we are a Christ follower is to become more and more like Jesus.  Importantly this means forgetting what lies behind of us and straining forward to what is ahead of us.  There is no use in looking in the rear view mirror.  Jesus has a great future as we focus on him and run to the win the prize that he has purchased for us in heaven.  Let's go for it!

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