YOU CAN'T BE TEMPTED BY WHAT YOU DON'T THINK ABOUT (PART 2)
TEXT:
"And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned." (Hebrews 11 verse 15, King James Version).
As God's children, we have been warned very sternly about the danger of looking back.
"No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Jesus reminded us in Luke 9 verse 62. In another place, He reiterated saying,
"Remember Lot's wife." (Luke 17 verse 32).
But a lot of times, we keep looking back! We need to remind ourselves constantly that God has called us all to be separated from vain, unclean and worldly lifestyles. God's calling to you for separation may not be to leave a country like the case of the Patriarch Abraham, Your case may simply be to forsake a particular lifestyle, habit, hobby or friends. The Christian calling is put forward in these simple but pungent words:
"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you," (2 Corinthians 6 verse 17).
Fellow believer in Christ, what have you forsaken for the Kingdom of God sake that is worth looking back to? Consider Moses! The Bible says in Hebrews 11 verses 24 to 26,
"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward."
Did you hear what the Holy Spirit said of Moses? Like him we can chose "rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: (ie, the world)" Understand that you cannot put earthly things above spiritual things and expect to grow spiritually.
Apostle Paul on the other hand, puts it rather bluntly saying,
"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, ... " (Philippians 3 verses 7 to 9).
The trap of the wicked one is to make you recount your past as though it were worth keeping or remembering. Did you hear what the apostle Paul called his entire life before he came to Christ? Dung! This was despite the fact that he profited in the Jews' religion above many of his equals in his own nation (see Galatians 1 verse 14).
Obviously, there was something about Christ and being in Christ which Moses knew; which Paul the apostle knew, which the other apostles and the saints of old, particularly the martyrs of old knew, which the men of our present generation are yet to know! May the Lord open our eyes of understanding to appreciate Who Christ is and what it is to be in Him!
Dear Child of God, truth is, nothing of your past compares to what lies ahead of you in Christ. Let's learn to reckon our lives in Christ the way the Holy Spirit would want us to have it reckoned. Hear it from the lips of Apostle Paul:
"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8 verse 18).
Brethren, the way forward is to learn to "forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before," (Philippians 3 verse 13). The secret to walking away from your past, no matter what it was, is to refuse to dwell on it. According to our Scripture reading for today, if Abraham and Sarah "had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned." Therefore, learn to de-esteem what you have left behind and let your focus be on what you look forward to in Christ. This is the sure path of progress prescribed for us in Christ Jesus!
PRAYER:
Dear Heavenly Father, I count my entire past as nothing, compared to glory that lies ahead of me in Christ Jesus, amen.