(Major props to those who actually did pat themselves on the back just now.)
Let's dive into the text. We're in chapter 3, starting at verse 12. David Albers has taught us that Philippians is after Ephesians and before Colossians, thank you David.
So here we go:
"12I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
15Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. 16But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.
17Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 20But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control."(Philippians 3:12-21 NLT)
You know what I appreciate about verse 12? Paul is humble. Paul doesn't pretend that he's perfect though in my opinion he was sure on that path to perfection! He says here that he doesn't look at himself as being perfect.
"12I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me."
Even Paul isn't perfect, but he is reaching. Reaching for what? Christ. Why? Some versions say:
-that I may apprehend after that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus (KJV)
-to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me (NIV)
-reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me (MSG)
Do you remember when Christ first laid hold of you? When He first apprehended you? When He first reached out for you? When He said "I have chosen you to be my disciple. I love you. Follow Me" and you turned to follow Christ?
When Christ obtained us He had a plan and a purpose for you, a purpose for you to live out.
Have you fulfilled it yet? Well, we are still here aren't we? Looks like we've got work left to do.
Another way of looking at verse 12 is that the Lord had a purpose when He first possessed us, and we have not yet completed that purpose but we continue to reach and discover that purpose that God has for every one of us.
We've been talking about our purposes and our passions through this series. Many of our youth mentioned their passion for reading and writing, passion for sports, passion to be a missionary in a country God has laid heavy on their heart, passion for music and playing instruments in worship to Him.
What are some of the passions or dreams you believe God has given you?
If you truly believe that God has a plan for your life NOW, then you have to believe that God is revealing His plan for you today, and more often than not the purpose God has for you NOW, TODAY has to do with the passions that He's already given you!
In Luke chapter 2 when Mary the mother of Jesus and Joseph had lost pre-teen Jesus, upon finding him in the temple, Jesus said said to them, "49'Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?'"
This is the same attitude we can hope to have. Needing to be about our Father's business looks like going through with the passions and desires you think that He's given you. (Just so we're clear, that doesn't mean you can come to youth group every week and tell us that God has told you to date a new person, that's not how this works. God's will for you aligns with Scripture and with His character. So run it by a fellow believer before you run off the edge of a cliff.)
Okay, verse 13 unleashes for us the secrets on how to be about our Father's business. "13No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead."
There are a lot of people trying to live in the past. Have you ever found yourself doing this? Where you're so mad at someone or so hurt by a situation that you can't seem to move past it?
Do you want to find joy in Christ? I mean actually find joy in Christ?
If so, it is CRUCIAL for you to let go of the past and look forward to what lies ahead.
Am I saying this like it's a simple, two-step process? No. But I am saying that it's NECESSARY for a believer to be present and future-minded if they want to be about God's business. Otherwise they'll always be looking to their past, asking the wrong questions, because our questions and peace of mind live in the future, not in the situation itself.
Paul had reason to be miffed! 2 Corinthians 11 is a laundry lost of all the times Paul had been beaten, shipwrecked, nearly stoned, cast out of cities and yet he said that those experiences showed him that his weaknesses reveal his need for God. And having a past worthy of some resentment, Paul says to forget the past and to look forward.
"14I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us."
We need to look forward to what God has for us today, and what He has for us looking forward! If we were looking forward we would be asking God the rights kinds of questions like, "God, reveal what You would have for me today" and "God, show me how I can live for you this school year."
If you really want to know what pressing on looks like, look to examples given in the Bible like King David, like Aaron, like Nehemiah, like Ruth, like Esther, like Daniel.
Or if you're needing some modern-day examples, look to believers in your life that are living our their lives, pressing on for what God for them presently and in the future.
Pressing on looks like Jordan, our DJ-Tech Youth Leader who a month ago at youth group said he was sick and unmotivated before youth group and yet was praising God the loudest out of everyone when it came time for worship. That's pressing on for the future God has for you. Not out of the joy of your current circumstance, but joy in what Christ has done, is doing, and will do in your life.
Pressing on looks like Carolynn, Natalie Billharz, Jack, Evan, Sarai, and others who make time for youth group even on days where they have to go from school to their sport practices and then strait to youth group. That's what pressing on for what God has for them today looks like.
Pressing on looks like David Albers running in the cross country championships today and yet he's still going to try to make it to youth group tonight because he's invested in what God has for him TONIGHT.
That is pressing on to reach the end of the race and receiving the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus is calling us.
Tonight is a short message because what we're going to do with the remainder of our time at youth group is we are each going to search out Philippians for a verse or a few verses that mean the most in our relationship with Christ right now. We are going to make a poster using that verse or verses.
So for those of you at home, try doing this as well! Write out a verse in such a meaningful way and hang it somewhere that you see often (office space, kitchen, car). Scripture is living so it can bring you hope and remind you to press on during days where you need some heavenly motivation.
Blessing to you in your workplace, in your homes, in your schools, and in your relationships. Press on for the One that has always, and will always press on for you.
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