But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14
Have you ever found yourself unintentionally headed in the wrong direction in the track of life? I remember how in the earlier years when gps navigation was new, my car started “talking” to me, telling me to take this exit and then recalculated and recalculated again at the next exit. Somehow I had instructed the car to go to Gilbert Avenue in the East Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati when I intended to head in the opposite direction.
It took a few minutes, but I was able to shut off the navigation’s voice and make it home safely, but it made me think of how easy it is to do the same in our lives. One wrong step leads to another and somehow there we are, in a place we never intended.
As i wrote these words I was reminded of a quote from C.S. Lewis on the idea of what true progress looks like.
“We all want progress. But progress means getting nearer to the place where you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man. There is nothing progressive about being pig-headed and refusing to admit a mistake. And I think if you look at the present state of the world it’s pretty plain that humanity has been making some big mistake. We’re on the wrong road. And if that is so we must go back. Going back is the quickest way on.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity
aul made a drastic change in his life – a 180 degree turn and so his declaration in the verses above is one of my favorite verses, because I can identify with the idea that I need to move past the mistakes of my past (even the recent past) and keep pressing ahead toward Christ.
I don’t know where you stand today or what direction you’re headed, but it seems helpful to me to ask if it is possible that I need to make a course correction. What about you?
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