For most people, life seemed simple when they were young but it was due to their parents shielding them from the realities and challenges of the times. In addition the parents would strive to provide a better life for their children than what they went through. We need to honor our parents and our past but we need to move on for the past is gone. Quit living in the past and embrace what FATHER is doing today.
Isaiah 43:18 “Do not remember the former things,
Nor consider the things of old.
19 Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
20 The beast of the field will honor Me,
The jackals and the ostriches,
Because I give waters in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My people, My chosen.
21 This people I have formed for Myself;
They shall declare My praise.
We have all had notable events of the past and some of them may have been defining moments for us at the time. Those events may have shaped our future but how long should we place great emphasis on those events? High school class reunions provide perfect examples of this point. There are classmates who seemed to peak in their popularity during high school and cannot seem to live beyond that era whereas the class nerd may have become a successful dentist, doctor, or entrepreneur. We need to engage ourselves with what is in front of us today and let yesterday fade into the past.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
The Apostle Paul had a past he wanted to forget. As an enemy of Christ and His followers, Paul who was Saul provides us an excellent example of moving on and embracing what FATHER has placed before us. You will go through seasons of your life in preparation of what FATHER has called you to today. Don’t view the end of a job, retirement, the loss of a spouse, or other notable life event as the end of your ministry. When one door closes, another opens. Walk through it and embrace what FATHER has placed before you. This is true with some relationships as well.
Some people get stuck in one aspect of revelation and are unable to move beyond it. They will continue their study of the old manna until they have fully extracted the life out of it. We must move on knowing that FATHER has fresh manna and will provide it on a daily basis if we simply seek HIS Face. In Luke chapter 9:
57 Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”
58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”
But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”
61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
A bookend is to complete and encapsulate a set of books or stories that are related in some fashion. One bookend starts the set and the other bookend completes it and establishes an end point. It is time to place a bookend and let the past go. Quit holding on to the past and putting it on a pedestal to be worshipped. You are no longer that person and it is time to live in the present and seize the opportunity placed before you. Your age doesn’t matter.
PS: It is time to clean out the closet, garage, and storage unit. Give it, sell it, or toss it.