What does the Gospel have to say to us as we face the future? Let me share with you a word from Jesus, and a word from the apostle Paul on this topic.

Jesus said, On the day that the "Son of Man is revealed...And you're out in the field, don't go back and get your coat. Remember what happened to Lot's wife. If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you'll lose it, but if you let that life go, you'll get life on God's terms." (Luke 17:30-33. The Message)

Paul writes, "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)

Jesus wants us to remember Lot's wife. Lot was Abraham's nephew who settled in Sodom. The angels of the Lord came to warn Lot to leave the city because the Lord was going to destroy it. The outcry against Sodom and its neighboring city Gomorrah was so great, and their sin so grievous, that God had decided to punish them through a volcanic eruption. Abraham had interceded for Lot and his family, and the angels urged Lot to take his wife and two daughters to safety. "When he hesitated, the angels grasped his hand and the hand of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, 'Flee for your lives. Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain. Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away.'....But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt." (Genesis 19:16-26)

From what Jesus said, Lot's wife more than glanced back, she went back to get something. Her focus was on what she had of this world's goods that she wanted to retain, rather than on heeding the angelic admonition. We can so concentrate on what we have that we want to hang onto that we can lose everything of real value. "If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you'll lose it, but if you let that life go, you'll get life on God's terms." If we live in the past, and evaluate our worth in terms of what we have had in material or social terms, and don't take seriously the call to the future life, we will perish - lose everything of importance.

Paul describes it in athletic terms. The athlete is straining toward the goal, the finish line, the victory to be attained, the prize to be won. When you are running a race your mind and will, and all your strength, is focused on using all that you are, all that you have, all that you have trained for, every ounce of ability, to do your best to reach the finish line first. You are not reflecting on the past, on your training, or former races you have run. You are in motion, stretching and straining toward the goal you have set for yourself. Everything up to now has been preparation. What you are doing is what you have lived for. This is your only chance to win this race. Your total concentration is on what you are doing to pursue your goal. You have only one chance to do well in this race. To look back is fatal.

I can remember when the four minute mile record was broken by Roger Bannister in May 1954. The Australian, John Landy broke it again the next month. The two met in the British Empire Games at Vancouver, British Columbia in August. Both ran sub-four minute miles but Landy lost to Bannister. This meeting of the world's two fastest milers was called "The Miracle Mile", the "Race of the Century" and the "Dream Race". It was heard over the radio by 100 million people, and seen on television by millions more. On the final turn of the last lap, Landy was leading. He glanced over his left shoulder to see where Banister was, which checked his momentum enough for Bannister to pass him on the right. A larger-than-life sculpture of the two men at this moment was created by Vancouver sculptor Jack Harman in 1967 from a photograph by Vancouver Sun photographer Charlie Warner. Regarding this sculpture Landy quipped that "While Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back. I am probably the only one ever turned into bronze for looking back."

"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." We have to focus on the future - our destiny in Christ. If we want to get ready for the future we must spend all our energy on getting to know Christ personally, to experience his resurrection power, to understand suffering as being part of Christ's suffering, to prepare for death as he did, and to participate in the resurrection from the dead to eternal life.

That means seeing everything we do now as contributing to the goal of being victorious in the race of life. It means that every decision I make is governed by how it contributes to that goal. It means that I am always thinking in terms of the future, of how I can forward this goal. It means cultivating the concentrated gaze of a person living in the future. It means that I spend my time and money to become the person Christ wants me to be. It means that I am working every day on God's agenda for my life. It means that I am not controlled by the past, by what others think I should be, by what my friends or children want me to be, by what my former priorities may have been, or what my fears and anxieties about the future may be, or what my insecurities and self-doubts may be. I only want to be controlled by what God in Christ, my Creator and Redeemer wants me to be. I only want to concentrate on what I can do to become what I am meant to be in the time left for me to do it.

I realize that this is the only race I have been given, the only life that I can live, and that I must "strain toward what is ahead." I don't know how much time I have left, but I want it to count. I want these years to be the most productive in my life. I want to be the most creative, the most loving, the most Christ-like person I can be. I want to be an authentic person, a person of integrity, a witness for the truth. I want to stand for what is right. I want to make a difference for good. I want to be a blessing to others. I want to focus on other people and how I can serve Christ in them, rather than focusing on myself, and my own needs. I recognize that I need to "press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things."

"So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision - you'll see it yet. Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it." (Philippians 3:15,16. The Message)