Philippians 3:13

Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before ...

I count not myself yet to have laid hold ... See comment on this same thought expressed at the beginning of Philippians 3:12.

Laid hold ... This was a favorite expression with Paul. He viewed the priceless gift of eternal life as a prize to be seized eagerly and without delay, something to be taken with determination never to let go of it. It was that same determined seizing and laying hold of which had characterized the Saviour's "laying hold on" him for the preaching of the truth, hence the words in the preceding verse, "I was laid hold on by Jesus Christ."

Forgetting the things which are behind ... Paul was not one to live in the past. The past he properly appreciated; but his thoughts continued to dwell upon the future. The great prize still lay forward at the finish line.

Just how did Paul forget the past? "Well, he certainly did not forget his knowledge of the Bible, nor God's grace or God's great mercies ... his writings prove this?[24] Boice thought Paul's forgetting was "ceasing to let the things which in the past overshadow the present. He let the past, both good and bad, be past, constantly looking forward to the work God had for him to do."[25] All Christians need the grace to do the same thing.

[24] James Montgomery Boice, op. cit., p. 227.

[25] Ibid.