heading towards the target
Contents
We want to understand what the goal of our faith should be through the words of the text.
1. What did the Apostle Paul set as the goal of his life?
What is the goal of your life you are pursuing? It should not be a life in which we run while looking at the worldly things and the things of the body that will decay.
2. With what mindset did the apostle Paul go toward the goal?
In Philippians 3:13, “Brothers, I have not yet counted that I have seized, but one thing I have done: to forget the things that are behind and to grasp the things that are ahead.” Paul says, “I do not consider myself to have grasped it yet.” It is an imperfect being who has to move forward towards a goal. We are all the same. You will have to go through the process of sanctification toward the goal.
So are we. You will have to continue walking the path of sanctification. While frankly acknowledging our shortcomings, I am an incomplete being, and without thinking that I am standing, I should become a figure of us who corrects every mistake that is an obstacle to continuing to advance toward the goal.
The Apostle Paul said, “Forgetting what is behind and grasping what is ahead.” It means don't look back. There is no need to think about past successes. We don't even have to remember past failures. Paul made many mistakes while outside Jesus Christ. If Paul had continued to recall it, he could not have done such a great thing. The same is true of our religious life. No need to look back. I don't have to worry about whether other people praise me or persecute me. You should only be running towards the target.
3. What did the Apostle Paul look forward to and for what purpose did he live his life running toward the goal?
It is not for the purpose of making the body that is rotting well. He didn't do it to make a name for himself. In Philippians 3:14, “I am running toward the goal for the reward of the above calling of God in Christ Jesus.” For the reward of the above calling, the apostle Paul ran and ran toward the goal with all his might.
But rather than expecting a reward when we go to the kingdom of God, we are the ones who lived for our rotting body and for our honor. Now we must change our appearance. We must become the image we are pursuing for the reward of the calling we have been called from above. I bless you with the holy determination to shed as many tears and sweats as you can for the sake of the Lord.
In 2 Kings 4, a woman came to Elisha and said, “My husband died and I owe a lot of debt, and my two sons were sold as slaves. What should I do?” Elisha said to the woman, “What do you have?” “You only have a bottle of oil.” Then, “Go and borrow an empty vessel from your neighbor, and borrow a lot.” The woman goes into the room and starts pouring the oil from the bottle into an empty vessel with her two sons. When the last bowl was filled with oil, the oil stopped flowing, whether it continued to flow or not. What does it remind you of? It means that God will fill you as much as you have prepared. It means that we achieve the goal we set for ourselves.