Off The Chain!
Off The Chain!
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:12-14
Has your day or your plans ever seemed to start to fall apart before they begin?
What do you do?
Check out this amazing video:
The video above is amazing. Aaron Gwin is a mountain biker in a competition and what you might think would be one of the worst things that could happen to him, he breaks the chain of his bike right out of the gate.
That can happen to us.
Right as we set off towards a great goal, something goes wrong and it seems everything is ruined.
In Philippians 3, Paul is talking about the righteousness and the hope that we have in Christ; how our righteousness comes from faith in Christ, not from our “religious works”. He is looking ahead to the resurrection he will have in Christ because of being made perfectly righteous through faith in Christ.
Yet, he also realizes that he isn’t perfect.
He sins. Indeed the sins of Paul’s past (persecuting the church) are great. However, he presses onward. He forgets what’s in his past, both the sin and even the “great works” he has done, and clings to faith in Christ no matter what, knowing the prize (eternal life) that lays ahead is worth it.
As we live our lives of faith, we will face those times when we falter and even fall.
We start off our day saying,
“God I’m going to live this day for you,”
and it seems just after those words come out of our mouths, something goes wrong. Maybe it’s something that happens to you (car breaks down, receive bad news, etc.) or something you do wrong and all a sudden the chain is off the bike. What do you do? Is the day ruined?
Press Onward
The chain may have come off, but like Aaron in the video or Paul in our Bible passage, you press on in faith; not because of what you can do, but because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Keep pressing on. For Aaron Gwin, his victory was unsure. For you, however, Christ has already won and your victory in His is secure!
Heavenly Father,
I want to serve You, but things always seem to go wrong. Whether it’s bad things happening to me or even my own sin, the chain always seems to fall off. Help me to remember that all my peddling isn’t what will win the race in the end, but rather what You have done on the cross. Forgive me for my sins and help me press on trusting not in my own works, but in You.
Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
