5:151 – Reflecting on the past for the future

#faithbites #faithjourney reflecting

Intro

Yesterday was Memorial Day, the unofficial start to summer. And yes, we went to the pool. While I was at the pool, I was instantly transported 29 years into the past. It was the summer of 1993, I was 16, and starting my first job at Dolphin Cove Family Aquatic Center as a lifeguard. I loved that job, the people I worked with, and the skills I learned. If only, I knew then what I knew now, I could make so much more of that time. Anyway, the reason why I was transported back, wasn’t just because I was at a pool. It was the music: Elton John, Phil Collins, Ace of Base, and the list goes on. Back then, most of these songs were new or were newly classic. Now they are on an oldies station called Bob 95.5. I started reflecting on the songs, who I was back then, what I was doing, and why I made the choices I did. It was fun, familiar, and at the same time, a bit off-putting. It challenged me to wonder what if I made different choices, and how I can use those lessons for today.

Questions

• How does reflecting on the past help you learn for the future?
• What point in time does God bring back to you for you to learn?

Scripture

• Romans 15:4 – For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
• Deuteronomy 32:7 – “Remember the days of old, Consider the years of all generations. Ask your father, and he will inform you, Your elders, and they will tell you.
• Ephesians 4:22-24 – To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Reflection

If you look at our verses, you may see a conflict. In Romans and Deuteronomy, we are told to look at our past, but in Ephesians, it says to put off the old self. In fact, they work together. We are to look at the past and see where we were. What were our sins? What choices did we make that were good and poor? We are to use them as instructions for the future to have hope. God made us a new being in Christ and the past is gone. While we don’t want to be those people again, since we will fall back into bad habits, we can remember the joy, how it set us up for who we are today, and learn.

As we close, remember, that it’s great to spend time reflecting on the past. And we all know the music was better back in our day 🙂 Just remember when we reflect, that we don’t want to be those people, we want to remember those feelings and experiences to help us in the future.

Prayer

Lord God, thank you for reflections and memories. The trip down memory lane was pleasant and insightful. Help us to look back only to remember and use is positively for the future. We pray that you don’t let us get stuck in the past or try to be those people again as we would lose all of the growth, we’ve had since then. We pray this in your name, Amen.