“One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” – Phil 3.13-14
Is there something in your past that is making it hard for you to look ahead? Have you ever had to walk away from something and it felt like you were leaving pieces of your heart behind?
In this verse Paul says he had to forget what was behind and strain toward what was ahead. He had to press on. There were things in Paul’s life that were pressing against him and it took everything inside him to keep going.
Sometimes everything in life seems to want to push you back and reverse any progress you’ve made. This word “PRESS” means to run after, to seek after eagerly, and earnestly endeavor to acquire. To press requires constant pressure and focus in one’s heart and mind. What are we to be pressing toward? The goal. The prize. Jesus. The One who has called us and filled us with His Spirit because it is His power in us that gives us the ability to press on. Ephesians 3:16 says “that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man.”
Are you tired of the straining and pressing? Are you worn out? Exhausted? Are you questioning if it is even worth it to keep going? I have been there, I know how that feels. But God never intended us to be alone or to use our strength to endure. He is our strength and it is only by His Spirit that we have the power to continue.
You are free to be weak because He is strong. Walk and live in His strength today. No matter what is pressing against you Jesus has the victory, He is stronger.
When everything is pressing against you, press into Him. The goal is not to be busy, to be more active in ministry, or to appear spiritual. Exhaustion comes when we forget that He is all we need. He is the Prize and the Goal.
Remember Jesus in all you do and press on to know Him more.
“So let us know and
become personally acquainted with Him;
let us press on to know and
understand fully the greatness of the Lord
to honor, heed, and deeply cherish Him.”
– Hosea 6.3 AMP