“Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12–14, KJV)
Some years ago, I got into jogging. After I built up stamina so that I could jog for 30-minutes straight, I thought, “Why not enter a 5k race?” There were many of these around the area in which we lived. So, I entered one and had a great experience. My goal was to reach the finish line within 30-minutes. After achieving this goal, I continued to enter various races, seeking to improve my times. Then I went for longer distances. Finally, I decided to run a half-marathon, 13.1 miles.
I trained 4-months before the half-marathon. The day of the race, it was 29 degrees. Fortunately, that meant the wind was at my back. My only goal was to cross the finish line successfully. At the 12-mile mark on my GPS watch, my toes started to cramp up. I grabbed some energy gels and drank some water, but the cramps persisted. I thought, “No way am I going fail to run across the finish line.” So, I decided to run through the pain. Well, I finished the race in 2-hours and 5 minutes, finishing third in my age bracket.
In these verses, Paul writes of pursuing the goal of Christlikeness with terms that might be used in a marathon race. At this stage Paul had been in the faith about 30-years, completed three missionary journeys, and planted numerous churches. However, here he stated that he had not yet reached the goal of perfection in Christ. He still had a long way to go.
Paul indicated that he was not perfect, but continued to “follow after” that goal of perfection. The verb translated “follow after” is dioko, which can be translated as to run swiftly, figuratively to run swiftly as in a race to reach the goal (Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon G1377). The verb is in the present tense indicating that it was Paul’s continuous effort to run swiftly towards that goal of Christlike perfection.
Further in these verses, Paul indicated that he was “forgetting those things which are behind.” He was not going to rest on his laurels with an attitude that he had arrived, because he had not. On the contrary, he indicated that he would continually be “reaching forth” towards the goal. He was stretching out towards the goal like a runner in a close race.
We as believers are all in a pursuit of Christ, His righteousness, and His mission. We desire to be like Him in life and ministry. Yet it takes effort. Granted that without the Spirit of God in us we would never have left the startling in the race or be able to run it at all. However, we have a part in reaching the goal. It is to yield completely to the work of Christ in our lives by His indwelling Spirit. Paul captured this thought earlier in the letter as he wrote, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12–13, KJV)
Yes, this race takes effort. Sometimes it will seem easy, but in other times difficult. However, in every case the blessings are many and the eternal reward is great. If you have grown weary in the race, and are at the 12-mile mark, determine to keep on going for the Lord will carry us all through to the finish line if we do not give up.
Renewing the Heart 