Indeed! We should not go back to our past, “our old man” after all that Christ in His mercy had done for us at Calvary. Our salvation was bought at a hefty ransom, an overpaid price in which the Son of God had to be crucified on the cross. With His sacrifices, all sinful men were emancipated from the clutches of sins and death.
Turning the page on the past is the only option for us believers as we looked forward with hope and eager expectation. What are we looking forward with joy for? The Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:20-21 urged us to eagerly wait for the momentous and eventful “recall” through Rapture. In that a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible first. We who are saved by Grace, and are still alive will be caught up next to meet with our Redeemer. The corruptible must clothe itself with the incorruptible, and the mortal with immortality, and we shall all be changed. What a day that will be? When our Saviour Jesus we shall see, the One who died for me. Indeed, a blessed moment or rather, “A Beautiful day”. Not as what one demented narcissist would classified the infamous assault on democracy of January 6 as a beautiful day in the States. Mind you, our citizenship is now of heaven. When we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and Redeemer, it guarantees our citizenship in heaven, not with any nations on earth or hell. So, let’s continue on to strive towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus. That should be our destiny.
Forget what were behind us, not willing to go back but strain forward towards what is ahead. Be as like an athlete in a race with one objective, lunging ever forward toward the finishing line. However, the problem with us Christians is that we do often look back to the past. We are like the wandering Israelites in the wilderness, always yearning for the fish they ate in Egypt at no cost. The murmuring and whining masses also craved the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic that they had during their slavery in Egypt. They were dissatisfied with God’s provision of manna, a miraculous bread-like substance that fell from heaven every day. A multitude of ingrates who fell short of the sight of the wondrous blessings that await them in the Promised Land called Canaan. For that, that generation of Israelites will wander for forty years in the wilderness till the last of its kind is eradicated. Sad ending for this particular generation of Israelites who always looking back to the past and failed miserably to capture the coveted blessings in the Land of Abundance.
There was another sad and similar incident that was recorded in the book of Genesis about Lot and his wife. The story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and in particular, the pillar of salt reminded us not to look back on our past. Before the destruction of the two cities begins, Lot and his family of four were specifically instructed to flee from their place of residence to a distant safe haven. As they were about to flee, the angels warned them, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away”. Those were specific instructions. But it fell on deaf ears of Lot’s wife, while fleeing, she hesitated and looked back to her earthly possession or old life, that mistake caused Lot’s wife her life. This is serious matter that our Lord Jesus reiterated the incident again in the book of Luke, chapter 17. In verse 32 of chapter 17, the next shortest verse in the bible after the famed two words verse of “Jesus wept” in John 11: 35 was “Remember Lot’s wife!”
All believers should be on an alert, especially now that we are indeed at the threshold of the last days. How do we know that? In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Apostle Paul cautioned Timothy of what will happen in the last days. He emphasized the terrible things and times in the last day that all believers must be aware with diligence. The signs will be of people who will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful and unholy. Furthermore, the people will be without love or compassion, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good. People will be treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They appeared to having a form of godliness but denying its power and essence. On the macro-level, we are bombarded with news of wars, rumours of wars, nation rises against nations, and kingdom against kingdom. There are also dreadful news of earthquakes, famines, super tornadoes and typhoons with increased frequency and devastation. The earth is really groaning in pain, as like a woman in labour. With all these grim signs and warnings of the last days, are we looking forward with anticipation to our “Promised Land” in heaven? Or have we looked back with strong attachment to our earthly possession, or worse, gone back to the miserable chapters of our wayward lives? You must decide.
Isaiah 43:18-19 says that God urges us to, “Forget the former things; do not dwell in the past. See, He is doing a new thing! Now it springs up. He is making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” We will miss out the new thing that God is trying to do in our lives when we hold on to the past. Are not the short-sighted Israelites who whined at Moses in the wilderness guilty of this sin? Through the lens of lack of faith, hope and trust, they failed enormously to envisage what God has in store for them in the Promised Land called Canaan. Often the new things that God is trying to bring in our lives will come through our struggles. But God promises in this verse that he will make a way to His divine destiny of blessings in our wilderness if we only look ahead with trust. It may be a season of temporary suffering, but it will definitely birth a season of harvest where we will see God move like never before.
Let go of the past because God has a new future for us. God will ask us to let go of things, even good things for better things. So remember, we are not going back.
I like an interesting quote that was shared by the former 44th President of USA, Barack Hussein Obama in a political rally that supports the rule of laws and democracy. He said, I quote, “We have seen the movie before, the sequel usually is worse than the first”, unquote. So, do we want to go back like a dog to its own vomit or are we ready for the new chapter?
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draws back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him, warned our heavenly Father. So, tighten our seat belt as we strive towards the future and with mind rooted in the belief that we are not going back. Why? Because eternity matters!