EXPOSITION:
God in His wisdom has divided time into days, weeks, months, years and seasons so that we can have the opportunity to evaluate our lives and have a fresh start. As the year 2021 begins today, it is worth evaluating how you fared in 2020: the successes, failures and challenges.
Evaluating the past helps to make better decisions for the future, but unfortunately the past can also be a prison. Success in the past can breed complacency whilst failures can make one give up on the future.
Apostle Paul therefore gives us his key to reaching his purpose: “forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead” (Phil. 3:13b; NIV). Rick Warren in “The Purpose Driven Life” states, “We are products of our past but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.”
We are blessed to serve the God who holds the future. His word for us this year is to forget about the setbacks in the year 2020 and not dwell on them because He is doing a new thing.
The past gives us experiences for the future, but if God says we should forget about the past, it means we do not need the experiences from the past for the new things He is doing in the future. What we need is a discerning and obedient heart to follow Him closely as He takes us to new territories this year.
LESSON/LIFE APPLICATION:
In order to be very successful this year, you need to perceive a new thing ahead; have a goal ahead. A goal not based on human wishes but based on the new thing God is about doing in your life this year. It begins with perceiving the will of God for your life this year through prayer and seeing it with the eyes of faith.