Last time, we looked at some of the times when walking backward is the RIGHT—and honorable—thing to do.
Recently, Christian apologist Greg Koukl, founder and president of “Stand to Reason” (str.org), published an intriguing article entitled, “Why Looking Backward Keeps You Safe.” He said: “When I face a vexing theological question, I start with what I know for sure and use that to organize the field, eliminate options, and clarify the task. I move from the known to the unknown.”
Where do YOU look to find what you “know for sure?” You certainly don’t try to peer into the fog of the future for answers. There’s nothing certain there, for how can you rely on wisdom and experience you do not yet possess? No, you turn around and look behind you—to what you have learned. To what you know you KNOW—just like Jesus did.
When the man Christ Jesus was confronted with a vexing theological proposition in the wilderness, He reached backward into the past for the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17 KJV) and declared “It is written …” What He KNEW became His weapon against temptation—and His victory. Jesus advanced against His enemy … while looking BACKWARD.
“Where is your faith?” Where do you look when you need to find the solid assurance of what you believe? The ANSWER: you look to the places you’ve stored the knowledge of things that don’t change. You find the confidence, conviction, and persuasion of eternal truths you’ve already gleaned from the guidance of the Holy Spirit and by “rightly dividing” the Word of God.
Some might say, “I have no stores of accumulated wisdom from my past. No convictions, no core beliefs, no moral compass. Nothing outside of myself that I can claim to know for sure.” No core beliefs? To that, I would respond: “It’s high time to stock up” …“building up yourselves in your most holy faith.” (Jude 20)
Some say: “There’s nothing GOOD in my past.” Nothing? Then, CHANGE your PAST!
How? Consider this: as each minute of our lives tick away, it immediately becomes part of our past. Pastor Wylie Rhinehart, Jr. said, “If you want to change your past, there is only one way to do it: change this present moment.”
Yes, we CAN change our PAST … by starting to rebuild it right NOW. TODAY. We can start by packing this present moment—our NOW—with wisdom, knowledge, righteousness, and virtue from the Word of God. Reading our Bible every day. Meditating on it. Memorizing it. Aligning the thoughts and intents of our hearts with God’s thoughts. Internalizing the eternal Word of Truth “according as (God’s) divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” (2 Peter 1:3 KJV)
If we pack our minds with wisdom today, we will be able to unpack it when we need it tomorrow!
The Apostle Paul, before dying, passed the torch to Timothy, his “son in the Gospel.” While giving him his final charge (in 2 Timothy), Paul warned that trouble was coming—trouble in the world, as well as trouble in the church. But, Paul—forever the faithful teacher—didn’t leave Timothy without hope. He gave him a warning and a weapon—the SHIELD OF FAITH—found in three simple words: “You, however, continue.”
He said: “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them … (for) ALL Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:14, 16–17 NAS)
Greg Koukl further drives this point home: “Paul never tells Timothy to look forward to the future for new movements of the Spirit. Rather, he tells him to look backwards to what has already been revealed. Everything we need to be fruitful and productive, to be trained in righteousness, to be adequately equipped for every good work, has already been revealed. For Paul, all the old stuff would continue to be all the right stuff.”
Prayer: LORD Jesus, help me to rehab my past, moment by moment, as I offer every NOW to You. Stock my storehouse, LORD, with Your wisdom so that I may walk into my future looking backward, “always having all sufficiency in all things (and) abound to every good work.” (2 Cor. 9:8) Thank You, Jesus! Amen.
(Part 2 of 2)
