Articles and Bible Questions

If you’ve ever watched a horse race or the movie Secretariat, you’re familiar with the covering that horses sometimes wear on top of their heads. Besides being a colorful way to identify the horses as they gallop toward the finish line, these coverings also serve a useful purpose. They are called blinkers, and they stick out around the sides and back of the horse’s eyes, preventing it from seeing what is behind or on either side. 

Jockeys have often said that blinkers are a vital part of racing equipment, because they keep the horse’s focus—literally, it’s gaze—on the race in front. Horses tend to get curious and will try to look behind them. Blinkers keep the horse focused on what’s ahead, because that’s all their eyes are able to see. 

I believe the Apostle Paul would have appreciated the concept of blinkers. In fact, on one occasion, Paul wrote to the church of Philippi about the importance of wearing spiritual blinkers, so to speak, as we run the race of the Christian life. 

Paul wrote, “One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). 

In other words, Paul was committed to running a race with blinkers on, refusing to look to the right or the left; resisting the urge to turn around and look backward, but rather pressing on toward the goal. 

What is that goal? The call of God. The call of God involved living a Christ-honoring life while here on earth and keeping earth in its proper perspective compared to the final prize—heaven. 

Now as we run our race for Christ, there are two dangers that can distract Christians and lead us to stumble and fall. 

THE DANGER OF DWELLING ON PAST PLEASURES. 

Nothing is more distracting than dwelling in the past, especially when the past seems better than the present. The Israelites experienced this as they left the land of Egypt for the Promised Land. At first, they joyfully left behind the agony of slavery, beatings, forced labor, and government threats to their newborn children. 

Later in their journey, whenever they faced a difficulty in life, they quickly began to complain. They even pined for their past life in Egypt. Temporary setbacks caused them to remember the food they had in Egypt more fondly than the promises of God for their future. 

Jesus made a similar point when he said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). 

Maybe you’ve never used a plow, but if you’ve ever mowed your lawn, you know the best way to keep the lines in your grass straight is to look ahead and keep your tires aligned with your previous pass. The easiest way to have crooked lines of grass is to try mowing your lawn while constantly looking back at the grass behind you. 

That’s Paul’s point about running the race. We can’t effectively serve the Lord in ministry while constantly looking back on things we “used to have” or something we “used to enjoy.” 

The best way to successfully run the race is to look forward to our life with Him, not backward to our previous life without Him. 

Someone once said, “There’s a reason why your automobile’s windshield is 100 times larger than your rear-view mirror.” 

THE DANGER OF DWELLING ON PAST FAILURES. 

A popular television show coined the phrase “be a goldfish,” as a way to encourage people to move on and not dwell on their mistakes. The soccer coach on the show often told his players to be a goldfish because goldfish have a memory of ten seconds. The coach encouraged his players that if they missed a shot or made a mistake, he wanted them to forget it within ten seconds, and move forward as if it never happened. 

I don’t think that’s perfect advice for the Christian, because mistakes can often be lessons we learn from and grow through. But I do think Paul would agree with this soccer coach that dwelling on mistakes does more harm than good, and we would do well to take our focus off past failures and dwell on forward plans. 

Let me put it this way: Paul isn’t encouraging spiritual amnesia; he’s encouraging spiritual advancement. 

After Peter denied Jesus during His trial; Jesus didn't give up on Peter. After His resurrection, Jesus had a lesson He wanted Peter to learn, and He taught him that lesson during a fishing trip at the seashore. When they arrived from fishing, the Lord even had a campfire crackling away, with fish and bread warming in a skillet. During that breakfast time, a time of fellowship and renewal, the Lord effectively reminded Peter to not look backward at his failures, but to look forward to his role in the coming church age. 

Beloved, the grace we so often withhold from ourselves has already been freely and lavishly given to us by God. Let’s not live in a mental prison of self-condemnation, but enjoy the freedom to run our race, looking ahead as we rest in the security of God’s love.