I’m glad cars have rear view mirrors.  You can use them when backing up or, before you pass someone, check to see if someone is passing you!  While rear view mirrors are great for seeing what is behind you, no sensible driver would remain constantly focused on his rearview mirror. 

Life is a lot like that, isn’t it?  No sensible Christian will constantly look behind him; remaining focused on the past.  Can you imagine the disastrous results?  A life of continual guilt, regret over bad decisions and poor judgment, and steady thoughts of “what might have been.”

It’s ok to learn lessons from the past by looking in the rearview mirror from time to time.  However, to get to our destination, heaven, we must regular focus on the windshield, giving our thoughts to what lies ahead.  The apostle Paul wrote, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus ” (Philippians 3:13-14). Today, rather than concentrating on my rearview mirror and dwelling on the past, I will focus my attention on the windshield and concentrate on what lies ahead.