"Memories"

Like a good, old trusted horse you rode,

And you let him just retire,

Take your life’s best memories,

The ones you most admire,

And put ‘em in safe pasture,

Where anytime you need,

You can frequent visit,

And make sure they have feed.

‘Cause all that happened yesterday,

Brought you to where you are,

And the Good Lord used it,

To help you go this far.

But remember not to live there,

Just visit now and then,

You don’t want to miss today,

By living where you’ve been.

The good times celebrated,

The bad times ways to learn,

But put both out to pasture,

So everyday you turn,

To the blessed Holy Spirit,

Who says He’ll lead the way,

Into life’s new adventures,

And fill us day by day.

Don’t let what happened stop you,

‘Cause you are not yet through,

God knows when you’ll be finished,

Till then there’s lots to do.

The people of your memory,

The ones you loved and miss,

The places and the moments,

A pasture full of this,

Go and check in with ‘em,

Then come out and close the gate,

And when the Spirit leads you,

Go on, don’t hesitate.

Life is where you’re going,

Just like it’s where you’ve been,

One has not yet happened,

Right now it must begin.

So make your peace and saddle up,

‘Cause it’s a brand new day,

God knows all that He has planned,

And you will hear Him say,

Come and follow after Me,

I’ll make My purpose clear,

And you won’t miss a single thing,

Because I brought you here.

“But one thing I do: 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)

Paul says that he has learned to “forget what is behind.” This does not mean that he literally was able to forget because that would be humanly impossible. In fact he often rehearsed his past as part of his testimony. So what did he mean by these words? He meant that he no longer allowed his history to have any influence over him. God used it to equip him for his God-given destiny. But his past would not be the determining factor in what he did or His usefulness to God. This is good news indeed! Our destiny is not defined or determined by our history. Rather, when surrendered to God, our history is used by Him to catapult us into His great purpose.

Lord, help us press on into the future You have planned for us, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Don Weller, donweller.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Don, and God bless you.