Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. 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. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

– Philippians 3:12-16 (ESV)

Focus . . .

You can almost hear the strong footfalls.

Pressing on . . .

The labored and yet full breaths being drawn and then exhaled, almost like laughter; the sturdy beat of the heart . . .

I will be teaching this passage this Sunday in the GAP class. I haven’t really started studying it, but upon this most recent reading I am struck by the immediacy of the language, by the beautiful mix of humility and confidence (yes, they can go together!), by the life that pushes through the dead page.

I’m hit with the athletic flow of the words, with the fluid strength of the theme espoused by Paul. I’m intrigued and emboldened by the future and the past that is encased in this passage, as in this single statement:

“I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

I press on, because Christ has made me his own. I have not obtained perfection, but yet I hold true to what I have attained. God has won the victory, and I run, joyfully and with strength and confidence derived only from the one from whom those heavenly characteristics, in their purest forms, flow.

And if you don’t feel this way (as I often don’t) you just haven’t grasped the truth yet.

Yet.

“and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.”

There’s really no question in the matter anymore. God has done it all. You have attained the victory that Christ won for you.

Now.

Run!