Whatever the years have brung

James Cathcart July 10, 2021 0 2

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Philippians 3: 7-16 (NRSVA)

7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, 11 if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Pressing towards the Goal

12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. 16 Only let us hold fast to what we have attained.

This week for our theme Telling Time, I have been thinking about what it means to follow God year on year. It can be helpful to reflect on what has gone before but while we can learn a lot from our memories we are not bound by them. Our God of mercy and love does not want us trapped under the weight of the past. Our God has a better prize in mind than melancholy or nostalgia. In God’s tender love there is a home for all of us no matter where we have come.

Whatever the years have brung.

PRAYER:

God,

I’m too weak

too bitter

too broken

too strange

too odd

too plain

too dull

too much

not enough.

Son,

I can use you

I can hear you

I can heal you

I can recognise you

I can celebrate you

I can treasure you

I can see you

I can come alongside you

I can be with you.

And son,

I will use you

I will hear you

I will heal you

I will recognise you

I will celebrate you

I will treasure you

I will see you

I will come alongside you

I will be with you.

But, God…

But, nothing, my son, but nothing. Just come here.

I’m unloveable…

Not even close son, not even close.