"Yesterday"

I do not grieve for yesterday,

Though it fills my memory,

My mind goes back to work and play,

And how things used to be.

When smiles from Mom and Dad I saw,

Heard laughter from my kids,

The pictures in my mind I draw,

From everything they did.

Horses that I loved and rode,

Cattle that I roped,

Up at night those trucks to load,

And all I read and hoped,

That made me want to cowboy,

Guess all I ever thought I’d be,

Though they worked me like a plowboy,

In that hay field don’t you see.

I guess my youngest lesson,

Was if you want it get to work,

‘Cause in it’s the expression,

Of effort you won’t shirk.

Now Mom and Dad in glory,

Kids grown and gone away,

But theirs is still my story,

Down to this present day.

And God was in the center,

Of everything we did,

When done expect to enter,

Heaven’s gates when we were rid,

Of all this earth’s enamors,

But till then we cowboy on,

Never mind the clamors,

Of those who think we’re wrong.

“…But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching 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, NAS)

Did Paul really forget his past? I think not, because he talked about it as part of his testimony. When writing to Timothy he referred to himself as “chief of sinners” because he had once persecuted the church. So what did he mean when he said he forgot what lies behind. He mean that when he remembered the past it had no control over his life. It did not hold him back or cause him to be overwhelmed with guilt or regret. He has learned from the past and received grace to move on. That’s the real point, isn’t it? He kept pressing on, no matter what. You are healed when you can remember without pain.

Lord, help us press on, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Ann Hanson, used by permission. Thanks, Ann, and God bless you.