"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." Philippians 3:13-14
The things that are behind us -- wasted opportunity, wasted talent, wasted time, wasted years -- clearly remind us of the words of John Greenleaf Whittier: "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these, 'It might have been.'"
We look back to the days gone by and say: "Oh, if I hadn't done this"; or, "If only I had used the opportunities I had." Or we might say: "I might have lived life on the highest plane, yet I was content to sink into cheap and easy living." Many are settling for the second best in life when they might have had the best.
We cannot call back the years that have passed, but out in front of us, God willing, are other years, still unused, unmarked, unmarred. The important thing is what we are doing with the moment we have now. "It might have been" is gone forever; "it can be" is with us right now. We cannot make of ourselves persons of power, but there is a power in Christ to mold us into what we ought to be. Our sins? They are washed away through Christ's precious blood. The abundant life? It is ours the moment we come to faith in Christ as our Savior.
PRAYER: O Holy Spirit, we commit ourselves in surrender to You, to follow Your prompting and leading. Amen.
(Taken from "Words of Promise," copyright 1996 (out of print), Concordia Publishing House. For information on other devotional materials, call 1-800-325-3040.)
Today's Bible Readings: Isaiah 41-42 Romans 7
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