Lookin' Back

In beginning the task of reading through the Old Testament, I reached the passage in Exodus 12 where God instructs Moses to instruct the people to remember the monumental exodus from Egypt. Later, in Deuteronomy 6, fathers are instructed to teach their children about the past history of the children of Israel. A seeming paradox is introduced when we reach the New Testament: Philippians 3:13 states: "forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before." In Luke 9:62, Christ states, "no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."; within the same book, we are told to "remember Lot's wife" (Luke 17:32).

As we begin a new year, two natural events take place: (1) we look forward to the events and goals of the new year, and (2) we look back on the successes and failures of the previous year. As I consider 2007, I am reminded of a few events that I would prefer to not repeat in the new year. It almost seems natural to think that this seeming biblical paradox of looking back and not looking back corresponds to the "good times" and the "bad times". Remember the good times, and forget the bad times. However, as I consider the backgrounds of the "paradoxes", I discover a most interesting explanation. The past to remember regarded the history of the children of Israel; the past to forget regarded the past of Saul/Paul. To put those two separate incidents into the context of our day, the past of Israel involved struggles, leaving home, thirst, hunger, uncertainty, wilderness, and slavery; the past of Paul involved success, financial security, popularity among the religious elite, position and prestige. It would seem that it was the "non-desireable" times that we are to remember; and the "desirable" times that Paul seems to be say we should forget.

In actual interpretation, the difference has nothing to do with the "goodness" or "undesireableness" of a situation, but instead the focus is on the acknowledgment and power of God in the life of those involved. This year, "success" is not defined by the "good" outweighing the "not-so-good"; but the realization that God works throught both scenarios. In fact, as the nation of Israel discovered, it is during those not-so-good times that we see God's power first hand to bring glory to Himself; and to those times, let us not forget! And, during the course of this year, when through our pride we forget God at work, let us press forward from those instances and continue pressing on!