The Upper Room Daily Devotional for Friday, 23 November 2018 "Toward the Goal" by Atsushi Nomiyama (Japan)

The Upper Room Daily Devotional for Friday, 23 November 2018 "Toward the Goal" by Atsushi Nomiyama (Japan)

(Image: Pixabay)

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV))
Hokkaido, Japan is known for its racehorses. Once, when my family and I traveled to Hokkaido, a tour guide told us that some of the young horses were not obedient to their trainers. Sometimes the foal is sent back to the home ranch and to its mother. The foal remembers her, but the mother doesn’t remember the foal. In fact, when the foal approaches her, she often runs away. The trainer watches from a distance, and at the moment the foal is left alone, the trainer calls to the foal in a strong, kind voice. At that point, the foal begins to see the trainer as a protector, a substitute for its mother. Then the foal changes and becomes obedient to the trainer.
When I heard this, I thought of the similarities between this horse-trainer relationship and our relationship with Jesus Christ. Before we meet him, we indulge our selfish desires. But once we know that Christ has saved us, we feel a deep sense of peace in our hearts. We stop looking at what is behind and instead press toward what lies ahead. As a good racehorse gallops on the track, we hope to finish the race, running toward the completion of our faith.
TODAY'S PRAYER: Father in heaven, thank you for sending your Son. Help us to grow in faith until we finish the race. Amen.

TODAY'S READING: Philippians 3:10-14

Philippians 3:10 The righteousness that I have comes from knowing Christ, the power of his resurrection, and the participation in his sufferings. It includes being conformed to his death 11 so that I may perhaps reach the goal of the resurrection of the dead. 12 It’s not that I have already reached this goal or have already been perfected, but I pursue it, so that I may grab hold of it because Christ grabbed hold of me for just this purpose. 13 Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. 14 The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus. (Common English Bible).

Philippians 3:10 Yes, I gave it all up in order to know him, that is, to know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings as I am being conformed to his death, 11 so that somehow I might arrive at being resurrected from the dead. 12 It is not that I have already obtained it or already reached the goal — no, I keep pursuing it in the hope of taking hold of that for which the Messiah Yeshua took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I, for my part, do not think of myself as having yet gotten hold of it; but one thing I do: forgetting what is behind me and straining forward toward what lies ahead, 14 I keep pursuing the goal in order to win the prize offered by God’s upward calling in the Messiah Yeshua. (Complete Jewish Bible).

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: “I press on . . . because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (PHilippians 3:12, NRSV).

PRAYER FOCUS:  People who work with animals

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