Press On Towards Your Goal (Philippians 3: 10- 14)

Press on Towards Your Goal (Philippians 3: 10- 14)

 

10   I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

13 Brothers and sisters, 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,

14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

 

1. Springboks, antelope-gazelles, typically live in Africa in herds of 30 or sometimes even thousands with one leader slowly steering at the front. As they move, the herds graze and eat away the plants on their path.

 

They never stray from their group to eat other plants for fear of attack from predators. However, they do start moving faster after pushing each other out of the way in hopes to eat a little more.

 

When the following springboks begin to walk faster, the leader naturally follows suit moving even quicker. Soon, they all eventually end up racing through the grasslands.

 

The head of the herd had originally been leading the springboks to a now location with plenty of grass, but as the herd began picking up speed, all direction was lost.

 

 They eventually end up at a coast and unable to stop on time the herd ends up pushed by their own selves into the water. Soon the ocean is scattered with the dead bodies of the springboks.

 

This doesn’t happen everyday, but it does occur on occasion.

 

Unfortunately, these springbok’s are similar to our own foolishness.

 

So many people race toward being better than others by attending a better college, buying a better car, a better house and getting a better job. But while they run with all their might, they have no true goal or direction and end up dying with empty dreams.

 

2. There was a senator, Senator Morrow, who was from New Jersey. one day he was on a train to New York City. A station employee came by checking passenger tickets, but he could not find his.

 

After waiting a while the employee said, “Senator Morrow don’t worry about it. I’m sure you bought a ticket. You are a senator after all! But when you do find it, could you mail your ticket to me?”

 

The senator replied, “That’s not my trouble. The problem is, I don’t know remember where I’m getting off so I need to find my ticket!” Senator Morrow had gotten on the train without even knowing exactly where he was headed.

 

3. So many people today live without a clear goal for their lives and waste each day thus end up with failure. And even those with a goal set up ones that are meaningless.

 

The Teacher confesses with regret in Ecclesiastes, “Meaningless! Meaningless!... Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

 

If we live for just one day, we must spend that day meaningfully. Paul urges us in today’s scripture to live our lives meaningfully and “press on toward the goal to win the prize.”

 

 

A) We must set up a clear goal.

It is difficult for someone to succeed without a clear goal.

 

A young man, who had been studying in the city, came home to his family’s farm one day. He saw his father working hard in the fields.

Wanting to help, he took one of the cows to the fields and starting plowing. He had done a fair amount when to looked back and saw his furrows were crooked, while his father’s were straight. Seeing this, his father told him, “You need to pick a spot and head straight for that target.”

 

Hearing this, the young man chose an ox grazing in the distance as his target. But when he looked back, his work was still crooked and zigzagging.

 

Once again his father told him, “The ox keeps moving! You need to choose a stationary target.” So the young man chose a tree as his target, and finally his furrows were straight.

 

Heaven, love, faith, and hope may not be visible goals, but they are all vital in the life of a believer. They are unwavering and permanent. Therefore we, as believers, must not waste our time and efforts on goals that are temporary and temperamental.

 

Today’s scripture records the decision Paul made to set up a great goal and live a meaningful life. And how did Paul achieve these goals? Listen to his encouragement and counsels.

 

B) Two pieces advice for a successful life!

 

1. First, forget what is behind.

 

When Paul tells us to “forget what is behind” he means we should forget the past. Paul was a persecutor of the followers of Christ. After accepting Jesus, he must have thought back to all the people he persecuted and killed and felt immense remorse.

 

However, if he were to dwell on his past he would be unable to move forward. So, he tells us to “forget what is behind” and “press on toward the goal.”

 

What is in the past? It is our sinful life, our shameful life, and our regretful life. It is the life we wasted no knowing God and following our own foolish desires for worldly riches and honor.

 

2. Second, strain toward what is ahead.

 

Paul says in 1Corinthians 9:24-25, “24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

 

25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” He urges us to set our goals for the permanent and grand prize that is in Heaven.

 

Paul also tells us to run steadily without rest like a marathon runner towards one goal, which is looking to Jesus Christ and one day standing beside him in Heaven.

 

And before he was martyred Paul said, “7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” Hallelujah!

 

We must also have the sole goal of wanting to become like Jesus, just as Paul did. Jesus must become our example and we must live proudly proclaiming his greatness!

 

3. 18^th century English politician William Wilberforce started believing in Jesus Christ at the age of 25, and from then his life was changed. He chose, not the path of success, but rather the path of working for mankind.

 

He chose to become a politician to achieve his goal of ending slavery in the British Empire. At age 30 he became part of the House of Commons and fought to abolish slavery.

 

On the year he turned 48, the British Parliament chose to end slave trade. At 62, 35 years after deciding his goal, slavery was officially abolished. Wilberforce retired at 64, and when he was 72, all slaved were emancipated.

 

He died 2 months after. William Wilberforce dedicated his entire life to achieving his goal of ending slavery. When he reminisced back on his life, he said, “It is the Lord who pushed me my whole life.”

 

The wise and distinguished names who changed the history of mankind and the church were people who had clear goals and endlessly strived toward that goal. The Apostle Paul set his sights on Jesus Christ, who never changes, and only ran towards him, never looking anywhere else.

 

4. Florence Chadwick (1918~1995) was an American long-distance swimmer. In 1950 she set the record for swimming from France to the United Kingdom in 13 hours and 20 minutes.

 

In 1951 she swam from the UK to France in 16 hours and 22 minutes, making her the first woman to swim the strait back and forth.

 

On July 4, 1952, Chadwick swam 34 kilometers (21 miles) from California’s Catalina Island to Long Beach. 15 hours into the swim, her body had grown cold and stiff from the water. Thick fog hindered her vision and she could barely see the path guides or the opposite land. Sharks swam around her.

 

But millions of people watching her on TV cheered for her and her mother and trainer on a boat nearby were encouraging her, telling her she was so close.

 

However, she gave up merely 800 meters (875 yards) away from her goal. A few hours later, she said in an interview, “If I had been able to see the land, I would have succeeded.”

Her failure was not because of the cold or fatigue; it was the fog that blocked her view.

 

 Two months later she took on the challenge again. Thick fog once again hindered her path, but she kept reminding herself, “Land is close. It’s just over there.” Her faith and sights on her goal never wavered.

 

She completed her swim in merely 13 hours and 47 minutes, setting a record that was 2 hours faster than the male swimmers.

 

 

1. What is your goal for your life today? Is your target an ox on a hill? Why do we often forget our goals, falter, fail, and despair? Is it because your goals are not clear or we are distracted or confused?

 

Have you set a clear and meaningful goal yet this year? Or if you have your goal, is your target one that is unchanging?

 

What goal could you set to make it better than last year’s? To please God even more? Take a long moment to think deeply about it. Spend this week figuring it out.

 

2. Look to Jesus, our righteous and definite target. Jesus is the target we should look to and the goal we should strive to resemble. Let us look to him, follow him, glorify him, exalt him, and praise him.

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