The same principles that got you out of the old season will keep you moving forward to an ever-brighter future.  With that in mind, let’s look at Philippians 3:13 & 14 (NKJV)

“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, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.”

The only way to distance yourself from the past is to release and reach.  You have to forget what lies behind and continue to press ahead.  You may have walked through the doorway into this New Year, but you have to keep on moving because there will eventually be another doorway to walk through.  If you just hang out at the doorway, thinking about the place you left behind, you’ll never find the next open door.  You might even find yourself slipping backwards out the door you just entered!

Think back to what it used to be like on the last day of school before summer break.  The moment that final bell rang, you were out of there!  You wanted to go fishing or play ball.  You didn’t want to sit around and think about your math class!  Why did you want to forget about it?  Because you were entering into a new season!  You wouldn’t enjoy yourself in that new season, if you spent all your time thinking about doing homework and taking exams!

I remember a phone call I had gotten from a minister friend of mine who had been hospitalized with chest pain due to stress.  I knew he had been going through a rough time physically for quite a while.  He immediately went into talking about the problem.  Finally, I stopped him and said, “Listen, man, the very thing that slammed you into the hospital bed is what you won’t quit talking about!  You have to stop that.  Talk about something else.  You should be preaching tomorrow in your church.  Instead, you will be lying in a hospital bed with a tube in your arm.” 

Why would you want to dwell on problems that belong in the past and pull you down?  It’s up to you to choose your thoughts and your words carefully.  If you want to experience success in this new season, you have to forget the negative things that lie behind you in the past; then just keep pressing forward to those better, higher, greater, things that God reserves for those who are diligent to obey! 

Grace & peace!