January 23

“12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 3:12-14 (KJV)

I love office supplies. Blank sheets of copy paper, blank journals and Moleskine notebooks, pens full of ink…the world is waiting to be conquered with these tools. When I sit down and first turn back the cover of that new notebook, my nerdy little heart leaps just a little at all the possibilities. I could write the next great American novel, pen a worship song that captures everything I can never seem to say—blank paper makes me feel that I can do anything. Old notebooks, full of the blood of lesser pens spilled on their pages, are tossed into the trash never to be remembered again as I put pen to paper on a fresh, new page.

In the scripture above from Philippians, I get the sense that Paul would like office supplies, too.

Paul gives us this ONE thing he does. This secret of his success in life. How he manages to keep on and keep on and keep on: He forgets.

There are some who would have us believe that people can never change. Once a bad apple, always a bad apple. “He’s just like his dad. She’s always been like that. Well what do you expect after she…” Teachers. Psychologists. Media. The message always seems to be that you can’t leave behind who you were. You’re predisposed to certain behaviors, and that’s it.

Paul knew better. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 he wrote, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

The Bible is full of examples of people who met Jesus and left things behind. The woman at the well, when face to face with Messiah, with all her sins laid bare, dropped her bucket and ran to tell someone. The blind man who cried out all the more “JESUS! Thou son of David…HAVE MERCY ON ME!” Healed by the miraculous touch of Jesus, he dropped his old filthy cloak that identified him as a beggar. The apostles, before they were such, dropped what they were doing, in Peter’s case literally walking away from the nets of his fishing vessel, to follow Jesus.

So what do you need to leave behind? Is it a mistake you’ve made in the past? The baggage of who you used to be? Let Paul encourage you today — you can leave it behind. Whatever it is, you can have forgiveness today. You can place it under the blood of Jesus, never to be remembered and never to be charged against you again. And when you do? Jesus will be there with a brand new, blank notebook in hand. Get ready to write a new chapter.