Nothing Like a Good Map!

I really enjoy a good map. No, not just when I'm lost in the middle of somewhere I've never been before. I'm talking about pleasure reading. Oh, come on! Some of you like reading junk mail. Maps are much better. In fact, the best thing is a loaded Atlas. I could sit and read it for, maybe not hours, but many long minutes.
What, you might ask, is so fascinating about maps? There is a personal answer to that, but first let me ask, why are you so narrow minded as to believe that a map is only to be used when you are traveling? What a waste of a perfectly good creation.
Let me explain: I love to look at maps because they tell me where I've been. I can be studying, for instance, Colorado in the atlas and review all of the places in that state that I have visited and enjoyed. I can remember how I got there and all of the events and memories that happened in the journey, even what transpired to get me to go there. Then, I can turn the page and find Connecticut. That is a place I've never visited. I've been no where close to that tract of land, though I would like to visit it someday. I've been to Denver and Durango, Pueblo and Fort Morgan. I have never been to Waterbury, or Danbury, or Canterbury. That's the fun of it....going from where I've been....to where I want to be.
Okay, let's move toward Biblically proportionate application. The Apostle Paul says, in Philippians 3:13-14; "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."
Paul isn't telling us to forget about everywhere we've been in our journey, he is simply telling us to let go of the hold it has on us. Could you image what I would sound like if all I could think or talk of was Colorado? It might be interesting for a week, but orbiting my life around it would get pretty boring and definitely lean toward tunnel vision.
Now, look at it this way; where you have been may not have been real pretty. I'm suggesting that each of us have committed some sizable mistakes, sins, and failures. There are places we've visited that we'd never willfully go back to. However, many tend to travel their way through life with a long coil of rope stuck to those events. They never seem to be able to move on to.....say.....Connecticut. The remained bound to their past as if it was the great overlord of their existence. Some of you, reading this blog, are living in that exact way....stuck in your past.
That goes for those who are stuck to the good things you've experienced. I know folks who live in the memory what God did for them twenty years ago. Their story is great and perfectly describes God's graciousness, but they have never moved to new, fresh, and vibrant experiences that build faith and hope.
Paul painted it clearly: The first time around the track was fun. It was exhilarating. But there is a finish line several laps ahead, and to cross that line will be the greatest moment of pleasure and power, and purpose that will every be realized in life. Why do we allow ourselves to get stuck on lap one or two? Why must we allow our past failures to continue to define us when Christ paid for all of those sins, once and for all. The truth is, we should be defined by His victory rather than our failures.
Turn the page of your life from Colorado to Connecticut. You can remember where you've been as a reminder to avoid certain roads. But there is so much more ahead, so many new things to learn, so many wonderful events and sights to experience. Take your eyes off of those things that defined Christ's death and set your sight on what will define the new you. Press toward the prize! It is up ahead.
Happy Trails,
Pastor Jim