Forgetting Those Things....

The Bible tells us that a key to the Christian life is “forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before” (Phil. 3:13). If we will press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, we must keep a forward view. In other words, we need to deal with the past, but we cannot dwell on the past. David needed to learn this lesson.

When David fled to Gath for fear of Saul, the servants of King Achish seized David and reminded him that Israel had praised David by saying that Saul had slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands (I Sam. 21:11). Look at the way David reacted: “And David laid up these words in his heart and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath” (I Sam. 21:12). David thought about these words over and over. The more he thought about them, the worse it became, until he was “sore afraid,” really scared.

Anytime we fixate on negative situations, our thinking will spiral downward. For David, fear seized him. For us, our refusal to let negative thoughts go could result in worry, fear, doubt, anger, bitterness, timidity, jealousy, or covetousness. It is one thing to identify something as wrong, but it is another thing to grip it and not let go. The solution: give it to the Lord. Cry unto Him and trust Him, “forgetting those things which are behind.”