REACH!

​Inevitability, we will come to a point where we have reached our furthermost point. Sometimes it is even by accident. We’ve come to the limit, the end, the no outlet sign. What do we do at that point? The answer, "reach" some more:

³ Brothers and sisters, I know that I have not ·yet reached that goal [taken hold of it], but there is one thing I always do. Forgetting the ·past [things that are behind] and ·straining toward [stretching/reaching forward to] what is ahead, ¹⁴ I keep ·trying to reach [pursuing; chasing] the goal and get the prize for which God called me ·to the life above [heavenward; ^L upward] ·through [or in] Christ Jesus.. Phil. 3:13-14 (EXB)

I chose this seldom used version of this familiar passage of scripture because in case you have a hard time with the word "reach" – it makes it clear that to reach is to "stretch", even "strain". It is not something like standing on your tiptoes and thinking you will attain your goal. NO – when we are going after the things of God we have to go way beyond our comfort zone. We can do this when we settle on the fact that we have not yet made it to the goal line. We can do this when we can admit that in fact that we are probably even light years beyond what God is calling us to. 

So we "reach", we "press", we "pursue", we "chase" after both the goal and the prize that God as called us to in this life – though it is "above" where we are and what we can see – we do it – both "through" and "in" Christ Jesus.

Go forth, fellow Christian solider – we’re in this together!

Maria