Two things really stand out to me in these passages; first, “…But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.” We need to keep our eyes on Christ and forgive ourselves for what we have ever done and long to live a new life like His perfect example. This takes us running the race to win because what lies ahead for us is the perfection of our lives in heaven with the Father. Secondly, “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.” When we press on we see how much God loves us and we have confidence in His love. When we have confidence we can live our lives knowing that we are His children and are to live like Christ in everything we do.
We need to desire to be like the teacher and obey everything He has taught us. This makes us get past just wanting to be a Christian, which is a word never used by Christ, to being a disciple which we are called to make as we mature in our walk with the Lord. In Luke chapter 6 verse 40 Jesus tells us, “Students are not greater than their teachers. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.” When we press on and forget the past we set our eyes on growth and learning and God gives us wisdom and it all points to Jesus the perfect example for us to follow. I pray that as we learn we see how important it is to seek perfection by living like Christ in everything we do. Amen