December 31

“One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on.” — Phil 3:13-14

There is a proper use of past experiences. We should remember our past lost condition–to keep our hearts ever humble. We should remember the lessons learned from past experience so as to profit by our mistakes. The true science of living–is not to make no mistakes, which is impossible—but not to commit the same mistakes a second time.

We should remember past mercies and blessings. If we do, our past will shine down upon us like a sky full of stars. Such remembering of the past will keep the gratitude ever fresh in our heart, and the incense of praise ever burning on the altar. Such a house of memory becomes a refuge to which we may flee in trouble. When sorrows gather thickly; when trials come on like the waves of the sea; when the sun goes down and every star is quenched, and there seems nothing bright in all the present–then the memory of a past full of goodness, a past in which God never once failed us, becomes a holy refuge for us, a refuge gemmed and lighted by the lamps of other and brighter days. Thus there are right uses of the past.

But there is a sense in which we should altogether forget our past. It is unwise to live looking back. We should keep our eyes ever turned forward to new hopes, new attainments, new achievements!