Press On!

Press On!

Philippians 3:12-14 NKJV
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

   According to 1 John 1:8-10, we know that no one is sinless, no one is perfect in this life, and no one has been except Jesus.  And no one will be in the future; there is no way to be sinless while we are in these bodies.  That being said, why is Paul calling for us to press on towards perfection?  Is Paul urging us towards a goal we will never reach until we die and are translated into the Kingdom?
   Many translations use the word, “perfect” in this passage, but the Greek word is more accurately translated “mature.”  Paul is instructing us to press on towards maturity in our Christian life.  I see his point here as urging us to be mature for our spiritual age.  When I was born, I was 9 lbs and 14 oz and in the words of Dr. Leonard Slovack, “he looks perfect.”  I was nearly bald, cried a lot, could not grip anything, had no bladder control and drooled all the time, hardly what I would call perfect.  But for a newborn baby, I was as good as a newborn baby can be expected to be.  Now, as an adult, if I was still bald, crying a lot, couldn't grip anything, had no bladder control and drooled all over myself, you'd assume something was wrong with me. What's perfect for a newborn baby is not whats perfect for a grown adult.
   This same principle applies to Christians in their spiritual growth.  A new Christian can not be expected to know as much as a mature Christian nor to react to things like a mature Christian would.
   The danger comes from losing that desire to grow in Christ.  Paul urges us to adopt the attitude that, "I'm not there yet - I'm far from being perfectly completed, but I can grow and learn more."  He was able to look at some around him and say, “Some of you are in a perfect place in your walk, in your growth. You're just where you should be today."  God has proved to me many times that I'm not too old to learn new things.  I've listened to sermons or read Bible passages or someone's study and seen some point I had not learned before.  It still thrills me when this happens.
   My prayer is that if I'm not pressing on like I should that God lets me know and not let me stagnate where I am.  We see where He has called to people who have faltered in their walk, or sometimes fallen completely.  He walked through he Garden and called to Adam, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)  He found Elijah in a cave when he had run away in fear and asked him, “What are you doing here?” (1 Kings 19:9)  Jesus asked His disciples, “...why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46)
   Where are you today?  Is the Lord calling to you asking you where you are or what you're doing hiding from life?  Is He asking, “why do you cal Me Lord but don't do what I say?”
   Press on!  You aren't perfect yet; you have so much more growing to do.

Stephen Cram                               May 1, 2011                       Colossians 2:8