But as I continue to pursue that which lies ahead, I can look back and see the slow and steady progress that’s been made. Seeing this reminds me that even when I slip, I don’t fall to the depths of where I began. Through the years, I see the path I’ve taken up this mountain called life.
There were many rocks in my way. Many times that I was unable to take the path straight before me due to unforeseen obstacles. Other times the path ahead was clear, but self-made obstacles slowed me down instead. Still, I must keep pushing – grasping for another step, reaching a new plateau in my journey. If I slip, I must not let it stop me.
In this journey of ours, it is not where we begin that matters, but where we end. Remember Paul, formerly Saul - the murderer? Listen to what he boldly states in the book of Acts:
Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. (Acts 20:26)
How can he make this claim? Because he knows that the new man at this high level of the mountain was not the man that left the valley floor. This is what we also must do in our climb – forget who started the climb, and focus on Who we are climbing towards. Then, as Paul also wrote, we can claim along with him:
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, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)
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