By: Pastor Johnie Akers
Philippians 3:13, “. . . forgetting those things which are behind. . .” Charles Swindoll, in his book, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, tells the following story: When Thomas Carlyle had finished the first volume of his book, The French Revolution, he gave the finished manuscript to his dear friend John Stuart Mill and asked him to read it. It took Mr. Mill several days to read it and as he read, he realized that it was truly a great literary achievement. Late one night as he finished the last page he laid the manuscript aside by his chair in the den of his home. The next morning the maid came; seeing those papers on the floor, she thought they were simply discarded. She threw them into the fire, and they were burned. On March 6, 1835, a date Mill said he would never forget, he called on Carlyle in deep agony and told him that his work has been destroyed. Carlyle replied, “It’s all right. I’m sure I can start over in the morning and do it again.” Finally, after great apologies, and a heavy heart, John Mill left and started back home. Carlyle watched his friend walking away and said to his wife, “Poor Mill. I feel so sorry for him. I did not want him to see how crushed I really am.” Then heaving a sigh, he said, “Well, the manuscript is gone, so I had better start writing again.” It was a long, hard process especially because the inspiration was gone. It is always hard to recapture the verve and the vigor if a man has to do a thing like that twice. But he set out to do it again and finally completed the work. Thomas Carlyle walked away from disappointment. He could do nothing about a manuscript that was burned up. So it is with us: There are times to get up and get going and let what happened happen. As Paul the apostle related in our Scripture lesson today, there are times we must simply “[forget] those things which are behind.” We must let go of past issues over which we have no control, and move forward. What’s done is done. The past cannot be changed. But what we can do, is moveforward, in renewal and restoration to the hope that lies ahead, with each new day.
Source: The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Charles R. Swindoll, Word, p. 441.