Change Your Condition, Not Your Position

INTRODUCTION

Last week we spoke about leaving the past in the past.

We said that past obstacles, past sins and even past successes can keep us in the past and keep us from completing our journey and receiving our crown.

It can keep us from reaching the goal God has set for us to obtain.

The scripture that we used can be found in Philippians 3:13, which reads, in partial, as follows:

Philippians 3:13a KJV

(13) Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind …

We need to ensure that the things in our past, our past failures, our past sins and our past successes, do not stand in the way of us reaching our goal.

Now today we move from the past to the future.

We all have a path and a calling that we have to travel and fulfil and the successful completion of our journey depends on us reaching towards the future and not staying in the past.

If you are not reaching towards the future, how can you ever think of completing the race, of getting to the end, of reaching your goal?

That said let’s read our scripture for this morning, which is Philippians 3:12-14.

You will see that it is the exact same scripture that we read last week.

SCRIPTURE

Philippians 3:12-14 KJV

(12) Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

(13) Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

(14) I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Let us pray

SERMON

Introduction

Our verse for this morning can be found in the latter part of verse 13, which says that we should be “reaching forth unto those things which are before”, and verse 14 that states that we should “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”

You would agree with me that this has to do with the future.

Paul is not speaking about our past here.

He is not saying that we should reach backwards or press away from.

He is saying that we should reach forth and press towards.

That, in my understanding, is a forward movement.

That is something that is deliberately done towards the future.

That is an action into the future.

But before we continue, let us first read some of the preceding verses.

Story

This past Friday I was driving to work.

Everything was going smoothly until I turned into one of the smaller streets close to where I work.

There, in front of me, was the thing that most drivers hate and fear.

Slow traffic...

The cars were going extremely slow and I must admit I was a little, if not a lot, frustrated.

Then I saw some of the cars making a u-turn to take another road.

This was obviously the quickest road to their destination, but they were not willing to wait just a little bit longer in this traffic.

They were not willing to stay the course, to stay in their position.

So, because of their condition they chose to change their position.

I chose to stay the course for it was only a 1Km piece of road that I had to endure.

You see, because we were going so slow we were able to give cars coming from the side roads a chance to also enter the road we were on.

Usually we would just drive past them, not giving them even one eye lid.

But this day we gave them an opportunity to get in front of us on this road.

It’s actually ironic if you think of it.

Here we are going super slow and still we give another car an opportunity to go before us.

When we were going fast we did not even realise they were waiting, the less of a thought to give them an opportunity in front of us.

Then God spoke to me.

He has placed us on our road for a reason.

He made us who we are and he gave us what we need in order for us to stay on the road and stay the course.

But life is not always smooth sailing.

Sometimes it slows down.

Sometimes things happen on this road that changes your condition.

Maybe you fall into financial problems or marital problems or work related problems.

Whatever it might be, it has to do with your condition.

And the thing is, many people on the road, when they start experiencing problems, choose to change their position.