“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:14 (NIV)
We have come to the final day of October, and the right place to begin is with thanksgiving.
Thank God for carrying you through another month, and for everything He has been teaching you in it.
For thirty-one days we have been returning to one theme: we were made for more. More of Jesus. More transformation. More obedience. More grace. More of the Holy Spirit’s power. More kingdom purpose.
But here is the danger at the end of a series like this. It is entirely possible to hear thirty-one days of truth, feel moved by a good deal of it, and leave it behind by the second week of November.
Paul will not let us: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Look at the phrase “press on.” The Greek dioko is the same verb used in Hebrews 12:14 for pursuing holiness. It means to chase, to pursue hard. Paul uses it twice in this passage, in verses 12 and 14.
And look at what he says immediately before it, in verses 13 and 14: “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, I press on.”
Three things there deserve attention.
“I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.” This is Paul, near the end of a life most of us would consider unimprovable, writing from prison, saying he has not arrived. If Paul had not arrived, the person who feels they have has almost certainly misunderstood the destination.
“Forgetting what is behind.” This does not mean spiritual amnesia; Paul frequently recounts his past, both his sins and his experiences. The Greek suggests refusing to let what is behind exert control over what is ahead. It covers both failures that would discourage and successes that would make us complacent. Both of them anchor a person to yesterday.
“Straining toward what is ahead.” The word epekteinomai is athletic, picturing a runner stretching forward, body extended towards the line. This is not casual jogging.
Fauja Singh, a Sikh grandfather from Ilford in east London, ran his first marathon in his late eighties. In 2011, at a reported age of one hundred, he crossed the finish line of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. He did not treat his age as a reason to stop running. Neither did Paul, writing from prison near the end of his life.
Notice also Paul’s language of a single focus: “one thing I do.” Not several. There is a simplicity at the centre of a mature life that scattered people never find.
So spiritual growth always has a forward direction. There is still more of Christ to know, more character to be formed, more faith to exercise, more people to reach. The Christian life has no plateau on which one may settle permanently.
A word of caution, though, because “press on” can be heard as pressure, and that is not what Paul means.
Pressing on does not mean you never rest. God commanded a Sabbath, Jesus withdrew regularly, and Elijah was given sleep and food before he was given a word. Refusing rest is not zeal; it is usually pride or fear.
Nor does pressing on mean striving for acceptance. Read verse 12 again, where Paul explains why he presses on: “to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” He runs because he has already been seized. The grasping hand of Christ came first. That is the difference between Christian perseverance and religious anxiety.
What pressing on does mean is refusing spiritual complacency. You celebrate what God has done, and you do not camp around yesterday’s encounter. Testimonies are meant to be fuel, not furniture.
So here is how to carry this month forward, practically.
Do not attempt all thirty-one things. That is the most common mistake, and it reliably produces nothing by mid-November. Choose two. Write them down where you will see them. Tell one person, so that somebody can ask you about it in three weeks.
Build grace into it from the start. You will miss days. A missed day is not a broken streak requiring a fresh start; it is simply a Tuesday. Resume on Wednesday without ceremony and without condemnation.
And keep your eyes on the right thing. The goal Paul names is not a standard of performance but a Person and a prize: “the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” The pull is from ahead, not the pressure from behind.
So thank God for October. Thank Him for every correction, every encouragement, every victory and every lesson, including the uncomfortable ones. Then lift your eyes again. The same Holy Spirit who has brought you this far is entirely ready to lead you forward.
Do not go backwards into ordinary living.
One last thing to carry into November, and it is about the direction of the Christian life.
Notice that Paul’s language in Philippians 3 is entirely forward-facing: pressing on, straining towards, the goal, the prize, the upward call. There is no vocabulary of arrival anywhere in the passage.
That tells you something about how to measure a good month. Not by whether you feel you have finally got there, because you will not, and neither did Paul. But by whether you are facing the right direction and still moving.
So do not end October by grading yourself. End it by checking your bearings. Are you facing Christ? Are you still walking? That is the test, and by grace you can pass it every single month.
Thank God for October, then keep pressing on. You were made for more, and the next step with Jesus is still in front of you.
Reflection
1. Look back over the month. Where has God specifically corrected, encouraged or changed you? Thank Him for each one by name.
2. Choose two things from this month to carry into November. Write them down, and tell one person who can ask you about them.
Prayer
Father, thank You for carrying me through October, and thank You for every correction, encouragement, victory and lesson, including the ones I did not enjoy. Forgive me where I have heard truth and left it behind. Like Paul, I do not consider that I have arrived. Help me to let go of what is behind, both the failures that discourage me and the successes that make me complacent, and to strain forward. Show me the two things You want me to carry into November, and give me the perseverance to keep them going. I was made for more. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Declaration
I have not arrived, and I will not camp around yesterday. I press on, because I was made for more and the next step with Jesus is still ahead.
Pastor Ras
All Nations Community Church
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