Happy New Year!

Press On

I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.

Philippians 3:13

It is easy to get stuck in the past. We waste so much energy thinking about the good old days and wishing it was here again. In some cases, we lament what has happened in the past and color our view of the future. This past year has been one of the most challenging years many of us have had. We look forward to midnight tonight and say good riddance. Paul says that we need to forget the past, let it go. Sure we can learn from it, but we don’t have to relive it. The past doesn’t have to define us. Paul next says that we are to look forward to what lies ahead. The word look forward means to reach for, to grasp, to press on. I like the concept of pressing on. So many times, we daydream of the future, we wish for a better tomorrow, but tomorrow never comes. The idea of pressing on means we live our future one day at a time. We get through this day and then on to the next. The cumulation of the days is our future. God is the God of new beginnings. He is the God of hope. As we end 2020, we can look forward to 2021 with God’s promise that He is with us; He will never leave us or forsake us. Today, we don’t have to get stuck in the past. Instead, by faith and with joyful anticipation, we can look forward to what is ahead.

Dear Father, as I sit here on the brink of a new year, I commit myself to You. I look forward to what lies ahead with joyful anticipation and entrust myself to You. In Jesus’ name.

AMEN