Do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. - Galatians 5:1
Some people go through life looking in the rearview mirror. They yearn for the "good
old days" when life seemed better. Families were stronger, Christians were nobler,
people were happier - or so they think!
The ancient Hebrews were masters at glorifying the ugly past. As slaves in Egypt they had
been desperate, but after Moses led them out of bondage they were soon longing for the
"good old days." Many of them wanted to go back to Egypt, even though it would
mean sticking their necks in the yoke of bondage and feeling Pharaoh's lash. Little wonder
that God canceled their passport to the Promised Land (Numbers 14:23,29).
Some Christians would like to get back to the "good old days" of the church. But
which church? Believers have faced huge difficulties since the days of Paul. The early
church was plagued by sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 5:1), heresy (Galatians 1:6-7), and
dissension (Acts 15:1-2). There were no "good old days" for the church - not in
the first century, and not in the twentieth.
Avoid the trap of looking back - unless it's to recall a lesson learned or to glory in
what God has accomplished. For those whose lives are centered in Christ, the best days are
always yet to come.
-HWR
How often God gives victory
And then we revel in the deed,
While present opportunity
Slips past its bloom and turns to seed.
-Gustafson
To live in the past is to miss today's opportunities and tomorrow's blessings.