The Good Old Days

Don’t always be asking, “Where are the good old days?” Wise folks don’t ask questions like that.  
Ecclesiastes 7:10 The Message

Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it?
Isaiah 43:18-19a NKJV

Invariably, when a group of friends get together, someone will begin to reminisce. 

"I remember when..."
"Do you recall the time...?"

"In the good ol' days, we..."

When those friends are Christians, redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, it's more a remembrance - a testimony - of what and where God has brought them from rather than a tale to glorify the old escapades. 

Let's think about that for a moment. It IS good to remember what God brought us out of; it's not good to think that those things we needed to be saved from were the good old days. Don't be deceived. If they were that good, would we have needed to be redeemed? Would we have sought God in our desperate effort to be saved? Let's learn the lesson from the Israelites who longed for Egypt as the good old days... Really? (Exodus 16)

What's good about the past is what God used in it to help form and grow us for the purpose and plan He has for us now. The Word tells us we are to press  (move forward) toward the prize. I concur with Philippians 3:13-14 in The Message,  Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.  

Our good days are ahead. The latter will be greater...

Prayer:

Father,
          Thank You for saving us from our sin and ourselves. Keep us focused on the goal where You are beckoning us onward to Jesus. If we look back, let it only be in praise and wonder and to glorify Your Name for where You've brought us from. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen