Sunday, July 22, 2012

FORGET THE PAST


“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But 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.”
Phillipians 3:13-14

Some years ago the well known author and speaker, Dr. Kenneth McFarland was a Superintendent of Schools in Kansas. One of the schools under his supervision was the Coffeyville Jr. College. One year, on the day before the annual commencement ceremonies, a student came into his office. He recognized her immediately as an honor student. She was a very bright and attractive girl named Nancy. And she had a story to tell Dr. McFarland.

You see, Nancy’s father had been killed when she was small child, so her mother worked in factory to support her three children, Nancy and two brothers. The only other living relative this struggling family had was, Uncle Ben. And Uncle Ben had a drinking problem.

Then one night, while the children were still very young, their mother died very unexpectedly. Uncle Ben came to the house. "Uncle Ben," the children asked, "What are we going to do now?" Uncle Ben answered, "I love you kids. I'll go down to court and get you assigned to me. Then, I'll get down on my knees every night and ask God to raise you right."

"And he did!" Nancy told Superintendent McFarland. “He hasn't had a drink since. He hasn't missed a day of work since. Jim graduated from Medical School. Tommy's graduating from MIT this Spring. I'm going to teacher's college. Tomorrow night will be the sixth commencement Uncle Ben has attended.”

"There's only one problem,” Nancy continued. “He won't sit in the parents' section. He feels it would show disrespect for Mom.” Knowing that Dr. McFarland would be giving the commencement speech, Nancy asked, “Could you mention something about Uncle Ben at the Commencement?" Ken McFarland said he would.
The next night at graduation, it was a beautiful, cool evening. The graduating students came in and took their places. Behind the students was the parents' section, and behind them was the section for relatives and friends. Nancy Hollingsworth was in the front row. When Dr. McFarland stood up to deliver his address he first had all the parents stand up to honor them and thank them for their dedication to their children.
After a kind applause, the parents sat once again. Then he looked down to the front row and saw Nancy Hollingsworth. Her head hung low. She thought that he'd forgotten Uncle Ben.
But, Dr. McFarland continued by saying, "Now, I'd like to have all those Uncle Bens who have graduates in this class, please stand." It was very quiet. Everyone looked around, and there was just a murmur going through the entire gathering of people.
Absolutely, nothing happened. So he said, "I'm not going to go on with my talk until the Uncle Ben who has a graduate in this class stands." Way back behind the students, the graduates, the parents, way back in the friends and relatives' section, a very tall, lean man slowly made his way to his feet. And there he stood. Suddenly, an ovation started across one part of the stadium and roared through to the other end. It lasted for several minutes as he remained standing with his head bowed, somewhat embarrassed at all this attention.

After the ceremony, McFarland asked Uncle Ben, "When you went down to court that day, what did you say? You didn't have a very good case as I understand it." Uncle Ben said, "You're right. I was scared to death. And when the judge asked me why I thought the children should come and live with me, I said `The Master said, A man can be born again. He can change. He can change completely. And he can stay changed. I believe the Master meant any man. Even a drunken ne'er-do-well. I believe that when the Master said, 'whosoever will,' I believe he included me."

The judge had looked at him a long time and said, "I believe that deal includes you, too. I'm going to let you take the children for 30 days. We'll come check. If everything's going all right, you can keep them permanently." Then Uncle Bill said, "The three kids and I got home, and we got down on our knees, and I promised God that if he'd hold onto me, I would hold on to the kids, and the five of us have been going along together all these years."

Yes, some of us are crippled by the mistakes of the past. We lie awake at night reliving past humiliations, anticipating the consequences of past misdeeds, regretting the tragedy of missed opportunities.

But, with Christ, you have a new beginning and a new future. The past is gone. The Bible is very clear on this. In fact, Paul advises us to "forget those things that are past." This is exceptionally powerful advice.

Remember, you can't do anything about yesterday, but you can do something about today. With Christ by your side, supporting you, you can be released from all the strongholds of your past life.

Your life with Christ isn’t about yesterday, it is about an eternity of joyous tomorrows. That is how it works. But, there is a battle going on within each of us. A battle between who we were alone and who we are in Christ. You can’t fight this battle alone. You can only do it with the help of Jesus Christ.

This week, let go of the past and take hold of your future in our Lord Jesus Christ.

This week’s prayer
Dear Lord, please do not allow me to be a prisoner to my past. Remind me that my past life does not determine what my future will be like. Remain with me all the days of my life. Guide me, strengthen me and be my companion. I do not want to go on the journey of life without You. Please go with me into tomorrow as we turn our backs on the mistakes and sins of days gone by. Amen.