Backing Into the Future
(
All poetry in this post was written by me on the spot. I credit no one.)
Despite the fact that I absolutely despise the Canadian Tire guy (you can only stand so much), there was an interesting saying that the some of the commercials had in the days when the guy went on a break. It was "Isn't it funny how where you end up has a lot to do with where you started?"
Well, that's totally true in life and we were reminded of that in JJR (Joshua, Judges, Ruth) class on Thursday. Since one of the most important things that you need to keep in mind when reading the Bible is the context of the passage, especially what comes before what you are reading, we did a bit of review in class about what had come before the passage that we were reading.
We reviewed the things that God had done for the children of Israel up to this point in history. Things like the parting of the Red Sea, the crossing of the Jordan River, the battle at Jericho, the punishments of Achan's sin and Egypt's hard hearts and most recently, the deception of the Gibeonites. We talked about how the character of God and the character of Israel were both reflected in the way in which they acted during these events. It definitely helped us get some better context on what was happening to Israel as they were just moving into the Promised land.
Then we moved on and came to the next logical conclusion: "What has God done for us?" That's when things really started to hit home. When we started to think of the things that we had done and how we used to live, life looked a bit grim. Then the one thing that we had in common sprang to life; Jesus had forgiven us and extended us His amazing grace, forgave us of all our sins and empowered us to do works of righteousness and to be free!
Freedom...
People have fought for it,
Died for it,
Talked about it,
Spit on it,
Questioned their place in it,
Burned things that represented it,
Lobbied for it,
Taken advantage of it,
Treasured it,
Mocked it,
Embraced it,
Misunderstood it,
Lived it.
(I have no idea where that came from, but I thought that I needed to write it down.)
As I was thinking about all of the amazing things that God has done for me, I started to get overwhelmed. The things that he has redeemed me from, the situations that he has pulled me out of and the blessings that he has given to me. They are all so amazing.
And that is why we need to, not only as Christians - but as people, need to practice "backing into the future". It was an integral part of the Hebrew culture and served them well as long as they did it and used it effectively. Whenever the Israelites went into a time of transition, they would stop and reflect on the things that God had done for them and then moved on keeping those things in mind.
That's what we need to do!
In our Western culture, we often find ourselves shaking off the past and constantly forging into "brave new worlds" in the name of "progress". The horrible thing is that when we do this, we often find ourselves repeating the same mistakes that we did before and even putting ourselves into a horrible state of regress. Even though it is an overused saying, it bears repeating; "Those who do not learn from their past are doomed to repeat it." It is so true...
So my friends, I charge you all will the task of living life "backing into the future". I know that some things that are in your life are not always the things that you are the most proud of, but take a look at what has happened to you as a result of them; take a look at life and see just how much better that it can and will be. Know that your history is set and that it is impossible to do anything about it, but the future can still be changed. Take the advice of Paul the Apostle in Philippians 3 and forget what is behind and strain on to what is ahead. In this context, forgetting doesn't mean to ignore it and treat your past as though it had never happened, but to not let the past have a gripping influence on you.
Remember that it is possible to change with the help of Christ because he has given you that power!
Always forget,
So you'll always remember.
So when fighting the darkness,
You'll never surrender.
