The supreme quest of every true believer is to be developed by God to such a point that he becomes a more perfect tool in God’s hand, one that brings pleasure
to his Father.
The Christian walk is an unending journey of developing our lives to the highest spiritual level. It requires decisive action, determination and discipline,
as well as diligence.
In our quest, the book of Colossians 3:1-2 encourages us this way: “If you then are raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ
is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (NKJV).
We have been raised with Christ and we are seated in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). We are instructed by Paul to seek the things above. Notice the Phillips translation of Colossians 3:1: “If you are then risen with Christ, reach out for the highest gifts of Heaven, where Christ reigns in power.”
Look up! Then we will see the possibilities that lie ahead.
Reach for the highest gifts heaven has to offer. They are within our grasp!
Set the standard high! Seek 100 percent success. That way, even if we were to attain only one-half of what we were reaching for, we would still be ahead
of the person who had set his sight on 25 percent and reached it.
We must set our sights as high as we can. Then allow God to show us how to attain our goal.
We can see the Apostle Paul reaching for the high calling of God for his life: “Brethren, I do not imagine that I have yet laid hold of it. But this one
thing I do—forgetting everything which is past and stretching forward to what lies in front of me, with my eyes fixed on the goal I push on to
secure the prize of God’s heavenward call in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14 Weymouth).
Paul wouldn’t look back on his past. He had persecuted the very church he now promoted, but he refused to allow that to stop him from pressing toward what
God had waiting in his future. He didn’t even allow the successes that he had already attained stop him from pressing forward for even greater success.
Instead, Paul was reaching out, pressing toward the mark, pushing toward the goal: the high calling of God. Notice the terminology he used: reaching, pressing,
stretching forward.
This fervent pursuit of “the prize” was not because he was an apostle. This speaks of the heavenly call that God has for every Christian. It is a high
calling. God has a specific assignment for every individual, not just preachers.
The only way to continue toward and achieve this high calling is to forget our past failures. We must set aside the things Satan uses against our minds
to make us feel guilty and condemned. Our failures of the past do not make us a failure today. Our determination to succeed sets our destiny in motion.
