Monday Morning Manna: Focusing on the Future

We are four men, sometimes five, from different backgrounds, each with a unique life story. We drink coffee together about once a month, sometimes more often. Three of us are retired, so we have to work coffee times into our busy schedules. In order to be in this group you have to have had at least one surgical procedure, otherwise, you have nothing to exaggerate about when the medical subject comes up. Other discussion subjects include the weather, sports, kids, grandkids, and of course, the way things used to be. With so much before us – the golden years, and our heavenly reward – it is amazing that we talk so much about the past. My grandfather did, and my father did, and the other day, I looked in the mirror, and saw both of them. Why are we humans so interested in the past? The Apostle Paul said he was “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead . . .” (Philippians 3:13). I love meeting, and talking past tense with these guys, but I think I’ll try real hard this week to focus on the present and the future. Anyone with me?

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.