Wow! I can you believe it’s 2020 already. Well, whether we’re ready or not, it’s here. The starting of a new year brings opportunities to reevaluate and access priorities etc. Maybe some of you have made resolutions or have a word or phrase that you’re focusing on specifically this year. The first weekend in the new year, I had a chance to listen to a sermon that focused on the above verses from Philippians. The pastor shared about a time when he was on his motor bike and someone was driving way to close behind him. He kept checking his mirrors so worried about what was going on behind him that he ran into someone that had stepped out in front of him with out looking. The person ended up being okay, but he said that if he had been paying attention to what was ahead of him then we would have been able to stop in time without hitting them. He used this story to encourage us to think about what holds us back. What keeps us from moving forward and stepping into that upward call of God in Christ Jesus? If I’m honest with myself, and by God’s grace I was able to see upon reflection in that moment, that a lot of what I allow to hold me back is my past mistakes and not measuring up in situations before. I sell myself short before I even try in the present because of my past. I find myself in the new year encouraged to lay my past at Jesus’ feet, along with the weight of sin that so easily entangles like the writer of Hebrews encourages, and run with perseverance toward the goal set before me to pursue the prize of the upward call of God. What’s holding you back today? What’s causing you to constantly glance in your rear view mirror? Can you begin to give it to God?
Japanese Congregational Church 