“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead” – (Philippians 3:13 NKJV)

Once we forget the past, we can then reach forth to the things that are ahead.  If we continue to remember the past, it will press against our “present” and keep us from the future that God has for us.  We can’t look backward and forward at the same time.

The Lord tells us that He puts our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.  I’m glad He didn’t say north from south because then we would meet our sins again!  If you start walking south, eventually you’ll reach the south pole, and then you’ll be going north.  North and south can meet each other, but east and west can never meet!  There is no east or west pole.

When God forgives us of our sins, He forgets them.  He never meets them again, and He doesn’t intend for us to meet them either.  Therefore, we leave the past sins behind and look for the future glory.

Don’t let yourself be burdened down with the memory and guilt of past sins.  Christ shed His blood on the cross so that we might no longer be bowed under the weight of all our sins.  Hand them to Him!

Dear Heavenly Father,

We thank You today that we can forget the past.  It cannot exercise power over our present or future.  We reach forth for the things that You have for us today.