"Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." Philippians 3:13b-14
I've been thinking a lot about these verses over the past few days. I love the freedom they express. They communicate that it is possible to break free from the past. They suggest a deliberate decision of the will to look forward...to set one's heart, mind, energy, effort, and hope on the future. They promise that what we hope for lies ahead not behind.
It's a tricky thing, forgetting the past. Whether the past holds a painful memory, a stupid mistake, or something wonderful that's been lost to us...it can be hard to forget. I tend to be a person that lives far more in the future than the past, but at times I discover a thread of the past still fastened tightly around my heart. As it yanks on me, it stings. Sometimes the pull feels like regret, sometimes pain, and sometimes simply sadness.
But Paul suggests we have a choice. A choice to look ahead. Forgetting is not an act of the mind as if we could really erase memories from our recollection. Forgetting is an act of the will. When we choose to look forward, we forget. When we choose to press on, we forget. When we follow the voice that is calling us, we forget.
I want to live in the freedom of forgetfulness.