Press On!

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. 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 3:12-14)

Father, our Strength,

I pray these children understand that there is never a time to sit back and coast. That you expect us always to be moving, pressing on. My visualization of this is in a race, in times past they used a tape to stretch across chest high across the finish line, and as you crossed the finish line, you broke the tape. In a race, the temptation is to begin to slow down as you reach the finish line, but coaches told us to "accelerate through the tape" and not to stop running until 10 yards past the finish line.  My goal in this life, Lord, is to accelerate through the tape. Press on, at an increasing pace, through the finish line.

I pray these children are like minded and use their later years to great benefit to the Kingdom. I pray that, during their life, they also forget what is behind - both failures and successes. May they learn from their failures and then move on. May they feel good about their successes, but not dwell on them. May their eyes be ever forward.

Amen