The Ghost of Christmas Past

“But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 3:13-14

In December, 1843, Charles Dickens published his story, A Christmas Carol, about the old, grumpy, Christmas-hating, Ebenezer Scrooge. On Christmas Eve, his old business partner, Jacob Marley, who had died seven years before, visits Scrooge. Marley prophesies that if Scrooge doesn’t change his greedy ways, he will have to bear similar chains to those that Marley has to bear for all eternity. He then prophesies that three ghosts will visit Scrooge later that evening. The first ghost, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge on a journey to his boyhood and youth, reminding him of a time when Scrooge was a kinder, gentler man; but time and pain have transformed him into the man that he is now, a miserly, horrible man.

Each of us has a past and each of us is haunted by a ghost of our past. It’s not a literal ghost. For some of us it is a haunting sin that still plagues us. For others it is regret over past decisions that has brought us to where we are now. The Apostle Paul understood sin’s haunting effect on our lives. But he also understood the cross. Past regrets need not hinder present effectiveness. Why? Because the cross changed everything. The cross enabled a dynamic u-turn to happen. Our past, along with all of its pain, shame, regret, and guilt were hurled onto the cross with Jesus. He paid the price for our sins. Every single sin that we have, He paid for on the cross--past, present, and future. Jesus only had to die once, not over and over again. That’s why Paul could say, “For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God”—Romans 6:10. His death rocked the universe and the entire order of creation was reversed. Death was not the end. Christ defeated it, and we now could be forgiven in the sight of God. It was the cross that enabled Paul to say so confidently, “one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind.”

Brothers and sisters, don’t let your past haunt you. Don’t let the decisions of years ago hang like chains on your souls. Go to the cross and give it to Jesus. Confess your sins and He will forgive (1 John 1:9). And then, forget the sins of yesterday and “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Jesus has given us a prize in heaven. And nothing can separate us from it--not our past, not today, nor tomorrow. There is nothing that can keep us from what Jesus has accomplished on our behalf. So today, let’s pray along with the apostle Paul, “forgetting what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call in Christ Jesus.” Amen.