10 April 2025

St. Paul says, ‘I press on towards the goal for the prize ..’ He is on the way. He hasn’t arrived. Neither have we. This is our encouragement. We live in that sphere of the pressing on, the looking forward, the straining towards the goal, the prize which he describes as the heavenly or upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

The purpose of Paul’s straining and his running and his reaching out is to know Christ. Nothing else is of any significance and nothing else holds the promise of eternal life! I love the sense of movement inherent in the alternative reading ‘the upward call’. It encourages us to lift up our eyes, our ears, our head and our body to see and to hear the one who calls us upward!

This is the focus of our ministry, our life together. This is the source of our unity, our peace which passes all understanding. This is our healthy perspective, the place where our vision is shaped and sharpened and inspired. This is the abiding place  of  Him  who will never let us down, for he went up on the cross for our salvation!

There’s nothing to be gained from looking back. So press on to what lies ahead. For look,  what can you see? It’s none other than the living Christ, Himself! So when you are tempted to give up, remember the one thing you can always do is to press on towards Him who suffered and died for you and even yet in that upward place bears the marks of nails and spear in his undying love for us!