• A friend of Clark Gable took her young son to his home for a visit. As they were about to leave, the boy pointed to the Oscar that Gable had won and asked, "May I have this?"
• "Sure," answered Gable, giving it to the child.
• "Give it back immediately," shouted the mother in shock.
• "Oh, no," said Gable. "Keep it. Having the Oscar around doesn't mean anything to me. Earning it does."
• Focusing on the future has many benefits. Paul boldly declared that "I am still not all I should be! But I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead I strain to reach the end of the race."
• Paul had great reasons to want to forget the past - he persecuted Christians and even had them killed. He held them in great contempt creating fear and anxiety among them. But, he also had accomplished many outstanding things for Christ when he wrote these words. In all reality he could have "stayed stuck" for one reason or another: either the wrongs he had done from feelings of guilt or false pride for his service to his Lord.
• These are two traps every Christian faces: our failures and our successes. Either one can destroy what God has called us to do. We must always move forward!
• Prayer: Help us, Father, not to ruin the present or the future by staying stuck in the past. You have called us to do great things through Christ. May we be faithful. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
• Scripture for Today: Philippians 3:13-14 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.
•