Devotional

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” —Philippians 3:12 

 No matter who you are, what you do, or how well you do it, there’s always room to grow. There’s always room to improve. Those who become complacent will never grow to reach their full potential. 

 Paul wrote these words to believers at Philippi. He, of all people, had laurels he could have rested on—you can read his resume earlier in this chapter, between verses 4 and 7. Yet he stressed the importance of always looking and moving forward.  

 Muscles at rest atrophy. You can experience this phenomenon easily enough: stop exercising for a month and then get back on a treadmill. 

 This principle applies to all of life, really. Pick up a musical instrument you haven’t played since high school. Dust off your recollections of the one semester of foreign language you took freshman year. Without practice, growth and progress wither.  

 This is true of our spiritual lives, too.   

 How do we combat complacency and its accompanying atrophy in our lives? Paul shared a secret he’d learned and put into practice: “I do not consider myself to have taken hold of [the goal]. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on” (Philippians 3:13-14). 

 Press on. With your eye on the goal, you’re like the captain of a ship with a course and compass. You can depend on God’s grace to provide wind for your sails. 

 My prayer for this week: 

Lord, I am thankful that you are faithful to finish the good work you’ve started in my life. Stir within my heart this week some holy dissatisfaction with where I am…a desire to grow and progress in my spiritual walk. Please help me fix my eyes on the higher purpose you’ve set before me, and to press on. May you be glorified!