Title

No Matter How Good, the Past is Past

Scripture
“Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God watched over me.”
(Job 29:2)
Devotional
Life can change in a matter of minutes. You may awaken to a wonderful day and retire that night in despair. Job did not realize that the best of his life was yet to come. All he could do was measure his present situation against the past.
Oftentimes we measure our lives against the past or against the lives of others. However, both are poor measurements because we are not measuring ourselves against God’s standards. When we measure our lives against ourselves or against others, we fail to measure up to the standards God has for us.
We should think as the apostle Paul when he said, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.”(1)
No matter how good the past may have been, the future of the believer is better. No matter how great the previous victory, the greatest victory is yet to come.

(1) Philippians 3:13
Text For The Day
Job 29:2: “Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God watched over me.”
Thought For The Day

“Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ You do not move ahead by constantly looking in a rear view mirror. The past is a rudder to guide you, not an anchor to drag you. We must learn from the past but not live in the past. “ Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe, international Bible teacher, former pastor of Moody Church in Chicago.

Questions To Ponder
Morning Study Guide
Defining:  “Good old days”: Mere figments of our imaginations. We have a tendency to make the past out of memorable moments.
 
Referencing: “Recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings,” Hebrews 10:32.
 
Applying: Live your life as if the best is yet to come, and you will build the greatest of memories.