The first thing that I would like to suggest that we need to do is to forget the past. Philippians, chapter 3, verses 13 and 14. Paul says there, “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.”

You know, by the time Paul had penned these words, he had come a long way from that first encounter with the Lord that he had had on the road to Damascus. And in that time, Paul had accomplished many, many, many great things. Paul, probably second only to our Lord in his ability, his mastery of teaching, wrote most of our New Testament—more than any other writer—and established churches all over the known world at that time. What great works he did in the kingdom!

But on the other hand, before Paul’s encounter with the Lord on the road to Damascus, he had done much to hinder the cause of Christ. How easy it would have been for Paul to have brooded and worried over the mistakes that he had made—his persecuting of the church, his relentless pursuit and capturing and imprisoning of Christians, his consent and even his presence at the death of Stephen, and perhaps others. Yes, Paul could have fret and brooded and worried so much that he would have been unable to carry on the work of preaching the Gospel.

Paul recognized, though, that one can get caught up in a quagmire of self-pity, of doubt, of guilt, of shame, of hurt, and perhaps even vainglory. The objective that Paul set for himself was to forget, and to press on—and so should we. We need to forget and put behind us all the depressing memories, all the false standards, all of the mean-spirited and low ambitions and ideals of our former life of sin.

We need also to forget the malice or hostility or bitterness that we have harbored within ourselves. We also must forget and leave behind the anger, the frustration, the pain of past disappointments and rejections and hurts of all types. Things in this life happen which cause pain and anguish. People will disappoint us; people will hurt us; people will perhaps even reject us. It happened to Paul. It happened to our Lord. And it will happen to us. But unless we put these things behind us and forget them, we will not be able to serve the Lord with the fervor and enthusiasm that we should. And it is possible that we can become so consumed in remembering that we won’t serve at all. In a nutshell, Paul is telling us not to live in the past.

But this living in the past may also include languishing in past successes and accomplishments. That’s the vainglory that I referred to earlier. Living off of past laurels gets in the way of our Christian vitality perhaps as much as dwelling upon past failures and hurts. A noted editor once wrote that “the true secret to editing is to know what to put in the waste basket.” I think that’s a good thought when we think about it. And regard to our lives, it’s applicable. In large measure, the true success of life is to know “what to put in the wastebasket.” In other words, we need to know what to forget and leave behind us.

I believe that the best way to forget past mistakes, past hurts, and yes, even past successes in the sense that we do not let them cause us to stagnate today, is to continue to press on. Note that Paul said, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on…” So not living in the past and straining toward what is ahead will encourage and inspire us.

Secondly, we should be motivated to fulfill tasks and meet responsibilities in the kingdom by remembering that the work we are called to do on this earth is the work of our Father in heaven. Once again, from our secular lives, we know that there is work that we do because it is our vocation—it is our ambition. We are educated and trained to do this work. It’s our duty, and our responsibility. And when we are called on to apply our skills, we can find that doing this work that we are motivated to do, and that we are trained and educated to do, can be fulfilling—can be satisfying and can be rewarding. It’s as if in our work, we are fulfilling a purpose and taking care of a need.

Well, as Christians, our purpose in this life is to serve God—to labor in His spiritual vineyard. And for our example in this area of life, we can look to Jesus Himself. He began early in His awareness of His need to work in the kingdom. Luke, the second chapter, verse 49—after Jesus had been left behind in Jerusalem and He was found at the temple, His response to His parents was, “Don’t you know that I need to be about My Father’s work?” And in John, the fourth chapter, verse 34, Jesus said, “My food is to do the Will of Him Who sent Me and to finish His work.” And in John 17, as Jesus prayed that emotional and fervent prayer in the garden before He was betrayed, He said in the presence of God, speaking to God, He said, “I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave me to do.”

Yes, Jesus knew His calling; Jesus knew His spiritual vocation. He was here on this earth for no other purpose than to serve His Father, and bring glory to His Father. And I submit to you that as God’s children, as Christ’s brothers and sisters, and as heirs to our Father’s estate, that that is our purpose as well. We’re not here on this earth to work for a company, or to go to school, or to raise a family, or certainly not for our own pleasure. These things are all incidental functions. What we’re here to do is to serve God and bring Him glory. Paul writes in Ephesians 2, verse 10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” And again, Paul writing in Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.” What a high calling we’ve been given, brethren! What an honorable and distinguished avocation we have chosen as Christians. So let’s be inspired and motivated in realizing that as we work and serve God in this life, we are fulfilling our purpose and our destiny.