ALONE WITH GOD     

  The scene from which Paul draws the foregoing picture is the foot race, so celebrated among the ancients. He here represents three attitudes. The attitude of the runner to the starting point is that he forgets it, leaves it behind. His attitude (present) as he runs from the starting point to the goal is pressing forward along the line. His attitude toward the goal is stretching forth toward it, running straight for it. In the stadium a white line marked the ground from the starting place to the goal. On this line the runners were obliged to step, and he who stepped off this line did not run lawfully and was not crowned even if he did reach the goal first. This scene represents the whole of our present life—the past, the present, and the future. After the runner in a race has left the starting place, he entirely forgets it as he presses onward in the race and thinks of the prize and the honor awaiting at the goal. Neither do his past circumstances, financial surroundings, failures, disappointments, business or friends occupy his mind. He does one thing ("this one thing I do"), and that is to put forth his utmost effort to win the race and gain the prize.

  Let us now see what practical benefit we can derive from this strong and beautiful illustration.

ATTITUDE TOWARD THE PAST—"I FORGET"

  Dear reader, have you forgotten the past things— every trial, disappointment, and discouragement? If you have not, let me exhort you today, even now, to do this one thing—to forget everything of the past that will not help you gain the prize of eternal life.

  How much have you ever gained from meditating on past failures, disappointments, and discouragements? If you have sinned and God, by forgiving your sins, has put it behind you, what good can you gain by grieving over it? Failures and accusations are unpleasant to meditate upon. Grieving over the sins and the failures of misspent days is a poor way to occupy your present precious moments. "Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which cloth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us! looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb. 12:1, 2.

  The starting place of the Christian race is where we lay aside every weight, where God forgives our sins, relieves us of the burdens that Satan has laid upon us, looses our bands and sets us free. Like a man who runs in a race, from the moment we leave the starting point we should trouble ourselves no longer about the things that lie back of us; for the greatest accomplishments and the highest achievements of a life in sin are of little value compared with the grace of God. Of how little value, then, yea, how worthless and what a hindrance, to meditate upon are the failures and the sins of the past! Think of your past failures only as things left behind, as weights laid aside at the starting point.

  "And Joseph called the name of the first born Manasseh (forgetting or making to forget, see margin): for God said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house." Gen. 41:51. Joseph is a fair type. He had so completely forgotten the trials and the disappointments of his former life through the joy of his present surroundings that he called his first born son "Forgetting." He had forgotten not only his toil, but also all his father's house. His father's house is a type of the worldly friends and the kindred ties that hinder us in the Christian race. Jesus says, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he can not be my disciple." Luke 14:26. "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Matt. 10:37. This does not mean that a man who runs in the Christian race should not love his kindred nor provide for those of his own household, but that he should forget them and forsake them in every connection that would hinder him in the race of life or tie him to the present evil world.

  While Job kept his eyes upon his troubles, he feared to forget his complaint or to leave off his heaviness and comfort himself; but when he got his eyes upon God, "Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholder from thee." As long as your attention is given to your trials or to your discouragements and despondent feelings, you are not likely to see above them; but if you will forget those things that are past, and will set your eyes upon God, victory is certain. "For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shall not fear: because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away and shine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning. And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea thou shalt dig about thee, and shalt take thy rest in safety. Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid; yea, many shall make suit unto thee." Job 11:15-19.

  Satan has hindered many dear souls from enjoying the blessings of God and from pressing on in the Christian race by pointing them to sins of the past—sins which God had forgiven. What if the mistakes of your life have been many; what if you have been in the depths of sin; did not Jesus forgive the vilest of sinners? Did He not say to the adulteress who was caught in the very act, the vilest of sins, "Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more"? Hath not the Lord said, "Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold"? Psa. 68:13.

  "Fear not: for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is shine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name: and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and as a wife of youth, when thou west refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should go no more over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.

  "In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the L o r d." Isaiah 54 :4-17.

  A discouraged person will often help the devil by bringing up things of the past that have been forgiven and trying to repent of them. The accused and despondent soul will often wander down by the dark shores of the sea of forgetfulness, and finding there a bark of discouragement, will launch it and sail out through the fog and mist of past life hunting for something over which to mourn. Often some mistake or sin of the past, which, like an ocean derelict, has long since been forsaken and forgotten is found; and pulling it ashore, the discouraged soul who is anxious to do something, invites friends and brethren to help in asking God to take notice and forgive. But God will not visit such a scene. What He has forgiven He has forgiven forever, and He cannot forgive it a second time, "for," says He, "their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Heb. 8:12.

  If a man should come to God and obtain forgiveness of his sins, live a faithful life for a while, and finally backslide and be lost, none of his former sins would be mentioned to him, nor would he be punished for any of the deeds of his former life, but only for those committed at the time of, and after, his fall. Neither will the Lord forgive only a part of our wrong doings. When He forgives, He forgives all, and forgives forever.

  So the only possible way out is to resist the devil and all accusations; cut the shore lines and consign the past to the waves of forgetfulness; make an eternal abandonment of all past sins and mistakes that God has forgiven; and set your face Zionward.

ATTITUDE TOWARD THE PRESENT—"I PRESS TOWARD THE MARK."

  The present is the most important of all times. Today is the day of salvation; now is the accepted time. What we did yesterday is done forever and tomorrow may never come. The man who grasps present opportunities and does his best today has no time to get discouraged about yesterday nor to worry about what shall be on the morrow. Yesterday belongs to eternity; today belongs to us; Satan's time to do good is tomorrow.

"Wait not till tomorrow's sun
Beams upon your way
To do a good and cheerful deed
That you can do today."

  To press forward does not mean to press backward. Forward to the Christian is upward. When the apostle penned the immortal words, "I press forward toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus," he considered that behind him was the world with its follies, disappointments and misery. He had no time to consider that which was behind. The present was too valuable to waste one moment on the things which he had already counted as refuse that he might win Christ; so, forgetting the past, he was wholly occupied with the thought of reaching the goal, where to him and all the faithful will be granted a faceless crown, a diadem of glory, an eternal home at God's right hand forevermore.

  Dear reader, do these things have any attraction for you? Would you gain them? Then spend your present moments in blissful meditation on these eternal things. It will help you at this present moment to press forward. Allow nothing to occupy your mind that will draw you backward. Think only on those things that will help you onward. Lay aside every weight and run with patience the race set before you, looking, not backward to the discouragements, failures, or sins of the past, but to Jesus, who is the author and finisher of the Christian's faith.

ATTITUDE TOWARD THE FUTURE—"REACHING FORTH."

  Our attitude toward the future is the well spring of our hope. We should not allow the past nor the present to dim our eyes to the bright star of inspiration that shines invitingly before us. Take from the Christian the hope of heaven and immortal glory, and you take from him his all. We have often heard it said that if there were no future reward the joys of salvation in this life would be worth living for. It is true that the joys of salvation here are worth all that it costs to obtain them, but we should remember that joy here is founded to a great extent on what we hope for in the future. If there were no future world and we knew that there was none, there could be no salvation and no present joy; so present joy is founded on future realities. Therefore to reach forth to the future is to add to our present strength and joy. It is true that many have overlooked the privileges and the joys of the Christian in this life. It is true that, though surrounded by sin and sorrow, we may, by abiding in the Savior's love, enjoy perfect victory and complete happiness right here in this world; but, after all, the brightest and best of our hope and joy is the unfading crown which we shall receive after we have reached the goal in the land where trials and temptations shall never come and where we shall be surrounded no longer by temptation and sin, but by righteousness supreme and eternal.

  The Greek word which in Phil. 3:13 is translated "reaching forth" points out the strong exertion made in the race wherein every muscle and nerve is strained and every particle of strength is exerted in running.

  The apostle Paul considered that to him the winning of the prize was all important. He had left the world with all it was worth behind him. He was pressing too swiftly along to enjoy the pleasures of life, therefore he must win Christ or lose all. He was running for life, running for his life.

  Dear reader, if you are in the Christian race, your all is at stake. You have no time to doubt or falter. The cause that you have espoused is of too great importance for you to stop and consider the suggestions of Satan. Take your New Testament, read it through, and mark the one bright hope that inspired the early Christians to forsake their all and follow Christ; the hope that strengthened them in the hour of affliction and temptation and helped them to say in persecutions and afflictions, in imprisonments and bonds, "None of these things move me ;" the hope that helped them to fearlessly face the wild beasts in the arena, to stand firm in the flames, and in the presence of frowning judges who demanded their allegiance to heathen gods, to frame the fatal sentence, "I am a Christian." When you have finished marking, you will have found that the one thing which inspired them all under every circumstance of life to stand loyal to their Lord was the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, the crown that lies at the goal—heaven.