It seems as if this past weekend was entirely devoted to commencement ceremonies in this part of the world.  For those who are graduating, it represents a new chapter in their life.  For the parents of those who are graduating, it is an all too real reminder of just how rapidly time is going by. 

My wife and I experienced some of that this weekend as our oldest son graduated from high school.  It was, and has been, a pretty emotional time for my wife as “her baby” is at that point in his life in which he is ready to leave the nest and try and figure out what life is all about outside of the watchful eyes of his parents.  While I don’t mean for this to come across the wrong way, I have to say in all honesty, that she has handled it much better than I thought she would.  As for me, well, it still hasn’t completely sank in yet, however I know that he is ready and I am excited to watch him grow from this confused teenager that he is into the man that God has called him to be.  The other night he and I were talking and he expressed some excitement about going off to college but also a little uncertainty about what that was going to really be like.  We talked a little about it and he left feeling better; not because of the words of wisdom that I had given to him, but rather because he had just received a text from a girl that he was interested in spending a little time with.  That terrible joke aside, our son is ready to move on with his life.

The apostle Paul talks about moving on in Philippians 3:13-14 where he writes “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 (NIV).”  The analogy of our son graduating from high school and leaving for college might seem out of place here, but try to follow my reasoning here for just a moment.  To me, what Paul is talking about here is putting the past in the past and looking ahead toward the future; that future which God has called us to through Christ.  Isn’t that what most life transitions should look like?  Need convinced?  How many of us know people from our own graduating class, be it high school, college, graduate school, etc, that failed to let go of the past and therefore, remained bound to or appear stuck in that point in time.  Are any of us are still there?  I think that if we are honest with each other, each of us have some aspect of our life that is bound by something that took place in the past.  If I am being honest with myself and everyone around me, that is true for me as well.  Now, while I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing, I do believe that it is something that each of us needs to be aware of and examine as we reflect on where we are currently in our life.  Nothing would give the evil one more pleasure than to see us stop growing and walking in Christ due to some event that happened in our past.  Has something that happened to you in your past kept you from being all that God has called you to be?  Kind of a rhetorical question and kind of not…..

In writing this particular passage of scripture on our son’s graduation card, my hope and prayers for him are the same as my hope and prayers for each of you who took the time to read this.  The future is an unwritten chapter in the book of your life; keep your eyes focused squarely on Christ, seek Him out in all that you do and when things come along that remind you or feels very much like the baggage of your past, to the best of your ability, give it to God so that he can work it out for you so that your life may honor and glorify Him.  One of the ways in which this can be accomplished is by turning off your cell phone and spending some quiet time with your Heavenly Father.  I think I will mention that to our son.

Jim Helzer