Don't let you past keep you from your future.......

But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26)........



How many times do we begin our walk with Christ and in the midst take a look back? I know in my walk i have MANY times. Matter of fact "looking back" is what kept me from taking that first step with Christ for a LONG time. Most of the looking back was the guilt of the things i had done and not thinking myself worthy of even stepping in a church and if i did i felt like I had a HUGE red sign on my forehead flashing "SINNER,SINNER,SINNER". That's really how i felt and each time God called out to me my answer to him was "what i've done is bigger than your grace". Really isn't that what we're saying when we let our past guilts keep us from following Christ? If you really take a deep look that's exactly what we are saying......."God your just not big enough to cover what i've done" or worse yet "Jesus the beating you took and the blood you shed just isn't good enough to cover MY sins". Well that is so very far from the truth and once God was able to get that truth through my stubborness he was able to transform my life in ways i NEVER thought possible!

The first truth i had to realize in this is that if i had a big red flashing sign saying "SINNER,SINNER,SINNER"......guess what...... so did everyone else. For the truth says......"All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."Romans3:12......Once i was able to get that understanding in my head i was able to open up to the people God had placed in my life to help lead and guide me in my walk. I no longer felt like these people were judging me because i understood that we all have our past failures. Another truth that had to sink in was....."But God demonstrates HIS own LOVE for us in this; While we were STILL sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8......How awesome is it to know that while we were sinners Christ died for us.....he was created to be a sacrifice for US so that we can be made right with God (2 Corinthians 5:21)! And NOTHING could seperate me from his love, nothing!

Another looking back many of us do in our walk is the basic wanting to keep one foot in the world while trying to continue walking forward with Jesus....that's not a balancing act any of us can continue for long. And, yes, that was me as well. Believe it or not even after the truth of his love and grace and forgiveness sank in there was a part of me that still wanted to keep a foot in the world. But the truth of the matter is that when we decide to follow Jesus we are saying that we understand the sacrifice he made for us and from that point on will strive to live like him. The old life we're use to is gone, no good for us. What good is it to want change in our life but continue to live the same lifestyle? That's kind of like taking a shower, but never washing your clothes. When we accept Christ we are a NEW creation!! Yes, i just said a NEW creation!! "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 corinthians 5:17. So why on earth if we are clean and made new would we want to put back on those old stinky clothes??? I'm so glad that through Jesus i have been made clean, but it is up to me to make sure my clothes stay clean by living according to his word. In the end I may have a few tears and scuffs maybe a couple of holes, but through the blood of Jesus i have been made clean. "because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins."Leviticus 16:30

So in our walk we need to look forward and not back. We need to strive for those things that Christ has called us too and forget the things we once sought after. Lot's wife was struck because in her deliverance she looked back longing for those things she was leaving behind. Let's not let our past keep us from what God has for our future.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 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.

Philippians 3:12-14