After repeating the unworthiness of his own efforts and achievements, Paul turns to the positive, and gives one the most encouraging passages in the entire letter to the church in Philippi.

You can see these encouraging words in Philippians 3:13-14:

Paul stresses an important point again for the third time: that of his own unworthiness and incompleteness. Of all people, Paul has the human credentials that would place him at the top. And yet, he sees those as inconsequential. In Christ, he is still straining forward, and his own efforts are not enough.

But Paul knows one thing for certain. This could be his life credo or motto. Paul leaves everything that he has accomplished behind. It holds no value compared to what he is striving for. This is the goal of his life, and should be the goal of ours as well.

Paul uses the imagery of a race here. For a runner, there is no looking back. A runner may occasionally glance to the side to see where his competition is, but this must not distract him from running the race. His eyes must remain on the goal. His efforts must be in striving for that goal.

Paul has forgotten what is behind. Certainly, this refers to his own achievements and accomplishments. But might it also include the wrongs done to him, the persecution received, the hurts received? Though this may not be the intent of his thoughts here, it definitely fits. We need to forget what lies behind, simply because it is behind us. Let us instead focus on what is ahead.

And that is the focus of Paul’s next sentence. His eyes are on the goal. His focus is on the reward. And just what is that reward? It is Christ. It is heaven. It is the accomplishment of God’s purposes for our lives while we are yet on this earth.

God has issued a call upon Paul’s life, which occurred at his conversion on the road to Damascus. He has also issued a call upon my life and your life. His purposes for our lives are laid out for us to pursue, and complete fulfillment can be found in nothing else. And reaching that goal is what we are to be striving for.

The ancient world had a custom of heralding the name of the victor of a race publicly for all to hear. In this particular race, all who finish are victors. Imagine God calling out the name of each spiritual runner as he crossed the finish line for all in that great cloud of witnesses to hear. Imagine God himself giving the prize for which we have been striving, the prize of Christ himself.

Though we cannot be certain this image was in Paul’s mind as he wrote this passage, it is a vividly accurate picture of what he is describing here for his own life, and by extension, ours.

Question: Are you striving for the prize to which God is calling you? Are you straining for it with all your might? You can leave a comment by clicking here.