Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

 Philippians:3: 13, 14

Our Daily Light begins the year with this marvelous teaching.  For some, Paul was a super Christian.  He did not see it that way. There was much more, he wrote, that he can take hold of.  In Christ, we never stop growing.

The secret as we begin the year 2019 is to put the past behind us, in a good way, and to strain toward what is ahead.  What is that?  Paul wrote that he desires to win the prize for which God has called him heavenward in Christ Jesus.  That, he proposed, is a good plan for us, as well.   He encourages us to expend our spiritual energy to follow Jesus, no matter what.

We live on the earth, but we are pulled toward heaven where Jesus reigns.