To these six he added another basic need…. The need for more life – the need to look forward to tomorrow and to the future with gladness and anticipation.

St. Paul, at the end of his life in as Roman prison could write, “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. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.” (Phil.3:13-15 NIV)
“I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us.” (The Message)

No matter what stage of our lives we find ourselves, we should be forward looking. The child should look forward to completing his education and training for his life’s work. The young person should look forward to marriage and establishing a family. The parent should look forward to supporting the lives of their children and grandchildren. The laborer, worker, or professional should look forward to a fulfilling career and the opportunity to glorify God in all that they accomplish. The elderly and the retiree should be able to look forward to growing toward maturity and completing the purpose God has in store for them. Not until we leave this world can we say with Jesus, “It is finished!” The prize of a life well lived is in the future. While there is breath in us there is a race still to be run and the finish line is ahead of us. The Christian in this life has not yet attained to the resurrection from the dead. We have not already been made perfect, so we press on to achieve the character that Christ has in store for us.

Age is no impediment to progress in the Christian life, or in any life. Michaelangelo did his best painting when past 80; Goethe wrote Faust when past 80; Thomas Edison was still inventing at 90; Frank Lloyd Wright at 90 was still considered a most creative architect; George Bernard Shaw was still writing plays at 90; Grandma Moses began painting at 79. Winston Churchill was 81 when he retired as Prime Minister of Great Britain. Ronald Reagan was 78 when he stepped down as President. Warren Buffet was born in 1930, and at 84 is chairman and CEO of Berkshire-Hathaway. Rupert Murdoch was born in 1931 and at 83 still controls News Corporation. Charles Stanley was born in 1932 and at 82 is still Pastor of First Baptist Church, Atlanta. John Stott was 88 when he wrote his last book, The Radical Disciple, Queen Elizabeth II was born in 1926 and still fulfills her responsibilities at 88 as monarch over 16 Commonwealth nations. Ruth Bader Ginsberg is still serving as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice at 81.

Dr. Maltz told his patients to “develop a nostalgia for the future,” instead of for the past, if they want to remain productive and vital. Develop an enthusiasm for life. “We age, not by years, but by events and our emotional reactions to them. Faith, courage, interest, optimism, looking forward, brings us new life, and more life. Futility, pessimism, frustration, living in the past, are not only characteristic of ‘old age’; they contribute to it. It is the feeling of uselessness, of being washed up; the dampening of self-esteem, courage and self-confidence, which our present attitudes of society help us to encourage.” (Psycho-Cybernetics, pp.240-242)

What can you look forward to as you age in this life? How can you look forward to tomorrow and the future with gladness and anticipation? How can you continue to press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called you heavenward?

Here are some ideas for you to pursue.
1. Become a serious Bible student.
2. Deepen your life of prayer.
3. Read the Christian classics.
4. Encourage everyone you meet and pray for them.
5. Take every opportunity to witness to Jesus.
6. Respond to requests for volunteers in the church.
7. Support a missionary agency.
8. Sponsor a child overseas.
9. Mentor a student.
10. Volunteer in the community.
11. Enroll in a college course, learn another language.
12. Write your family history, memoir or novel.
13. Take up a hobby, become an artist, a musician, or a gourmet chef.
14. Strengthen your family ties.
15. Learn how to use social media.
16. Increase your computer skills.
17. Join a choir or dramatic society.
18. Begin a blog.
19. Cultivate a garden in your home.
20. Make yourself an authority on a subject or an activity or a person.
21. Write letters to the newspaper (or on Twitter) on the issues of the day.
22. Work on improving the image of Christ in you (Col.3:12-14).
23. Put into practice the truth you believe in.

What has Christ got for you to do and to be in the future? Don’t limit yourself. Remember that God is able to do immeasurably more that all you ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within you (Eph.3:20). Look forward to what lies ahead. Strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling you up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for you.

(Ted’s blog is found at www.ameliachapel.com/blog. His books are found on www.amazon.com. SOUL FOOD: DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR THE HUNGRY, Vol.2, April, May, June is now available.)