Let’s Win the Race (Philippians 3:12–16): Part 2

All of us want to be “winning Christians” and fulfill the purposes for which we have been saved. In this passage, we find there are five essentials for winning the race and one day receiving the reward that is promised. In Part 1, we saw the first two essentials. Now, we will look at the last three.

Direction (3:13c)

Forgetting what lies behind and straining toward what lies ahead.

The unsaved person is controlled by the past, but the Christian running the race looks toward the future. Imagine what would happen on the race course if the charioteers (or runners) started looking behind them! It is bad enough for a plowman to look back (Lk. 9:62), but for a charioteer to do so means a possible collision and serious injury.

We are accustomed to saying “past, present, future,” but we should view time as flowing…